Worlds Away
by RP Angel
Summary: Faced with the memories of a tragedy Charlotte leaves her employer to return back to her normal life.
1. Chapter 1

"No Jasper, no more sweets before bed. Teeth now, brush them." I pointed him to his bathroom. He protested, like he always did but didn't fight me too hard on it. I watched him scamper off to go find a stuffy or something in his room. The buzzer sounded next to me and with it I was on the way to mommy's and daddy's room. Ms Alice was having a bad day, week more like it, and there was little the doctors could do for her. The nurse had left for the day so it was my newly assigned duty to watch her before daddy came home. It wasn't normal that the nanny refer to her employers as such but after Jasper called his father 'Sir', I adapted.

"Yes mom," I pushed the door open slightly and peered in. "can I get you anything?"

"Is Jasper in bed yet?" She stayed almost completely still except for a twitch in her hand.

I walked in and crouched by the bed, keeping my voice down. "He's on his way now," my hand reached for the empty water glass by her bedside. "Let me refill this before I go read him his bedtime story. Did you want me to bring him in here for it?" Her head shook no and her eyes closed. I could see the pain running through her body and I picked up her pill schedule chart. "I'll be back with your water and we can take the blue pills, they are the good ones." I got her to smirk and that was a hopeful sign that she was going to get some rest tonight. I got up, returned to Alice's bed side and eased her up to take her medicine. She was so deteriorated that it wasn't that hard to prop her up carefully and hold her for a few moments so the water and medicine could go down and wouldn't come back up.

"Thank you, I should be fine for a little bit until Peter gets home." She was about to start saying something else but drifted off. I marked off her schedule, dimmed the lights and left the room to go find what trouble Jasper had gotten himself into. I turned the corner and into his bathroom to find him running a line of toothpaste along the edge of the counter. "That's very good Jasper." I tried so hard not to laugh and covered my mouth a little. "What's daddy going to say when he finds you've wasted all of your toothpaste and made a mess?" His features dropped.

"Don't tell daddy?"

His baby blue eyes could melt stone when they looked up at me. I cringed and took the empty tube from him. "We need to replace this." I wiggled the tube at him and he nodded. "Let's get this cleaned up before daddy gets home, and you still need to get your PJ's on." He took off and I dug out some paper towels out to clean up the slime.

Once Jasper was read his story he drifted off and I went to tidy up the kitchen. Daddy wasn't home yet, his shoot was scheduled to go late tonight, I had wished he'd been home but I couldn't blame him. Home is depressing. I've been working for this couple for a few years now, they knew Alice was going to have a rough time with her treatments and good on them for planning ahead just in case. I frowned. Their just in case, me, turned out to be a 'thank God we hired her' decision. It put my own life on hold but after the years of schooling and trudging in and out of a suit filed office, this felt more rewarding. Thinking of the office, I should try to slip away soon to see what my crew was cooking up as of late to make me more money.

Within the closed confines of my room, I logged into the office system and in to my email. My mind went into business mode instantly and my fingers started flying across the keys instructing what I wanted who to do next. There were several meeting requests. I shuffled around the ones that I could attend around Jaspers play times which were schedule between the two grandmothers. The grandmothers were in a constant state of outdoing each other and wanting time to spoil Jasper but daddy laid down the law early and they could only get time and were limited to what they could buy him. I wasn't his mother so what they all decided was fine by me. It did give me more time off and considering the extra work I agreed to take on, with caring for mom, they were happy I didn't walk away like most nannies would have done. I heard the click of the lock at the front door and shut down my computer rushing to stand outside my room. Daddy was finally home and needed to be briefed on the day. His steps were slow. He was tired and with the burden of what was happening here, I wanted to be quick with this. His eyes found mine and I pressed my lips together before speaking. "Same as yesterday. She's sleeping now. The nurse will be here at 10am. Grandma Esme will be picking Jasper up for lunch at 11am and returning him by 3pm; she mentioned the library or museum? Do you want anything to eat or drink?" I sounded more like a maid or a personal assistant than a nanny and I knew it, but then again, I didn't mind.

"That's fine, I grabbed something a few hours ago. I'm turning in. Thank you." Peter dragged himself down the hall towards the spare room beside his wife's. They stopped sleeping in the same room over six months ago. It hurt Peter that he wasn't near his wife but he hated waking her up when she was sleeping or bumping into her and causing her pain. Once the media caught wind of what was happening in this household, they tried to spin some gossip around the whole illness, even calling me to pay me off for information. I certainly didn't appreciate it and with a few phone calls of my own, the supposed reporters found themselves going bankrupt paying for all their legal fees defending all the newly discovered dirt on themselves. I wasn't sorry; it was self preservation for myself as well. If anyone came too close or decided to dig into this family too much, I'd be found and that wasn't acceptable. Leaving Jasper right now would hurt him badly as well. He needed a 'mom' figure outside of his grandmothers and I was it. I didn't want to be it, but that was part of the deal with me being hired on; consistency. I watched Peter come out of Alice's room and close the door silently before going into his own room. I'd be up with him in the morning and send him off with a good breakfast; it'll be pancakes I think.

The next few days blurred into weeks and the routine stayed pretty much the same. Doctors would come and go with the same request; Alice should be moved in to the hospital. When the the shouting matches would threaten to start between the doctors and Peter or either of the grandmothers it was my job to get Jasper out of range ASAP. An ice cream shop a few doors down served the purpose well enough and the beep of my pager would bring us back with a pint of ice cream. These shouting matches were getting more frequent as Alice deteriorated. Jasper was picking up on what was happening despite our best efforts. He was five and not as a naive child as one would expect him to be. He started asking questions about mommy, when she would be getting better and be able to play with us. I was often left saying I didn't know or having daddy field the questions when he was around. I wasn't his mother or a parent and inferring my beliefs on him was beyond what I considered scope of a nanny. If I could catch either of the grandmothers before Jasper was around, I'd give them the heads up if Jasper was in an inquisitive mood that day; both of them appreciated it.

I'll never forget the day it happened. Peter had just gotten up and I was getting breakfast going in the kitchen. He called to me from her room; he always checked on her in the mornings and then usually came for food. Not that day. "She's cold; she's gone." was all he could say before shutting down. I couldn't place what I felt at that moment but I shut down as well, to a point, and went in to an automatic, take care of business mode. I called both the grandmothers first, then the hospital, then the doorman downstairs and told them to expect a rush of bodies coming in. There was an unspoken understanding we all had for this moment but I never thought I'd be living it. I called Peter's agent and pretty much informed them not to expect him in today or tomorrow. That call was going to get me into a little trouble later but seeing as they knew what was going on, I didn't expect too much of a repercussion from it. The next part was hard but needed to be done. I went in to stand beside Peter in his daze. He was frozen sitting on the bed, holding Alice's limp hand. "I should go wake him before everyone gets here." He kept his head down and nodded yes. I left and unlocked the front door before going into Jasper's room and pulled his little sleeping body from his bed and brought him to his father. I sat Jasper on Peter's lap and took off like a damn coward, justifying it as a father should be the one to tell his child that his mother has passed away. A few moments went by and a loud rapping on the door brought with it the paramedics and emergency crew but there was nothing they could do for Alice. She had wanted this; to be with her family until the very end and not be surrounded by strangers. I thought back to when I first met her when I was applying for the position; I instantly liked her. She was so full of love that you were naturally drawn to her. Jasper was his mother and a complete delight of a child.

The grandmothers arrived soon afterwards and in the flurry of activity I retreated to Jasper's room to pack an overnight bag for him just in case either of them wanted to take him away. One of them did and I slipped away to my own home for the night. I went back the next day to clean out the master bedroom while Peter dealt with all the funeral arrangements.

Things went pretty quickly after that point but we were all stuck in slow motion; almost in a zombie-like state. The media was there but kept their distance out of respect, but the zoom lenses on their cameras didn't escape my notice. I had opted to wear something that nearly covered my face so I wasn't recognized and my hair was tied back under my hat. I hovered behind the grandmothers, they took turns standing by Peter and keeping a firm hold of Jasper. Jasper was was in a state of silent tears the whole time thought the funeral service and burial. He managed to place a long stemmed white rose on his mother's casket. Jasper wanted to stay with his grandmother so I had his things ready for him.

I'm not sure how I managed to keep my eyes dry but I did; until Peter and I made it back home anyway. He must have already come to terms with losing his wife of almost ten years because he was dealing with this a lot better than I was. I could feel pieces of me slowly crumbling away as we went up the elevator until I was sobbing uncontrollably in his arms.

The sound of a phone ringing woke us both the next morning; Peter still had me in his arms and neither of us seemed to want to move. I blinked at the clothes on my bedroom floor as my mind went back to what happened. "Are you sorry?" I asked? There was a long pause and then I felt a heavy breath on my neck.

"Only if you are."

"I'm not." I wasn't. I needed what happened between us to get me through, not only this but, all the other feelings I realized I had been repressing. "People will be here soon Peter," I inched away from his hold and pulled my robe from the bedpost to slip it on, "I don't think they'd understand finding us like this." I kept my eyes forward and hurried out of my room into my bathroom so Peter could vacate it with a bit of his modesty intact. I heard him slide off my bed and quickly leave. I held my head down for some time before I lifted it to look at myself in the mirror. My eyes stood out the most; they were bloodshot and puffy. I had reddish marks over my neck and going down my shoulder; I recalled how they got there last night and hoped they'd vanish quickly. My hand found the handle of the medicine cabinet and my little ring of pills was quickly opened and one of its compartments emptied.

It took about an hour but sure enough family and friends started filling in. I had arranged for a caterer the day of so there wasn't much for me to do in the kitchen other than keeping things moving. The grandmothers were in and when they saw the state of my eyes, didn't say much and only hugged me and thanked me for thinking of things so they could focus on their son and grandson. I wouldn't say I was avoiding Peter but I did look to see where he and Jasper were every so often. Several of Peter's actor friends and their managers stayed huddled on one side of the room while the family members stayed around Jasper. I gravitated towards Jasper and made sure that he wasn't being overwhelmed by all the attention. We only needed to retreat into his room once to get away Alice's brother, Emmett, who thought it was his duty to have people laughing; it was a bit much for a five year old to comprehend.

Everyone cleared out by seven that evening and I re-tidied the kitchen after the caterers left. The closer family stayed behind to make sure the two boys were alright. Once Jasper was in his bed and asleep I approached Peter and the grandmothers, I knew what I needed to do and hoped they could see the reasoning for it. "I can't stay. I can't be the female figure in Jasper's life; it wouldn't be fair to him. Nana Esme and Renee, you two should be the woman that matter to Jasper not me, the paid help." I could see the stress brewing in Peter's eyes but he stayed silent in front of his mothers. "I've gotten too close to Jasper and it's for the best that he not transfer his affections to me now that his mother is gone." The tears started welling up in my eyes by that point. "Another nanny would be better for him at this point." I turned around and went to my room to start packing my things. Nana Esme followed behind me a few moments later.

"We still want you to stay Charlotte, you're like family to us."

She was immensely sweet but her heart was doing the talking. "You are like that to me as well but the day Peter decides to start dating or to re-marry Jasper will not give them a chance and that won't be fair to Peter ether." I continued to fold my things. "Besides, I'd love to stay in Jasper's life and come to his birthdays but I can't be the person he looks at and associates with his mother." That seemed to click with her and she dropped the subject.

"Do you have a place to go? We can't just let leave without knowing you will be alright."

"My uncle. I'll be staying with him." I found a piece of paper and wrote out his address and my cell number on it and handed it over. Esme's brows raised, she knew the address and tucked the slip away. "You and Renee should be the constants in his life, not the paid help." She left without a word when Peter came and tapped her shoulder. He waited for her to leave before speaking.

"Is it because of me, I'm..."

I cut him off quickly, I didn't want to have an awkward talk. I kept packing as I talked, the look he came in with was enough to push me back into tears again. "I said I wasn't sorry and I'm not. I'm just thinking of Jaspers best interests." I cleared my throat and lowered my voice, "I relived the most painful day of my life yesterday and having been in his position I wished someone would have thought of my best interests back then." I looked up and felt a tear start to fall over my cheek. "I can't do that to him Peter, he's a lot younger than I was and it'll be easier for him this way to deal with it. Kids are so resilient and he's got two wonderful grandmothers to get him though stuff." Peter dropped his eyes and nodded. It almost looked like he wanted to say more but him hearing my tone and reasoning he didn't.

I left that night.


	2. Chapter 2

I took a few weeks off after that. I needed alone time; I needed my own family around me to calm my nerves and talk it out with my counselor. Rose had been assigned to me when my parents had passed away and she was never convinced that I was fully recovered, so my file stayed open. It had been well over a year since I'd talked with her but when her secretary relayed my request I found myself in the over-sized lazy boy in her office within a few days.

"I'm not sure where to start but I thought I was strong enough to go through with it. I just stood there looking at Alice's coffin and that day started coming back to me. I tried to be strong, hold it in, not mix up the two events but I just broke down." I breathed in a breath, and felt another tear welling up.

"You broke down; that's not uncommon but I feel like there is something more there Charlotte?" Her pencil had stilled for a moment and started scratching something out as I started relaying what had happened next.

"We had left Jasper with his grandmother so it was just Peter and I. I could feel the emotions coming back, resurfacing as we rode up in the elevator. I imagined my parents and Auntie in the fire. I could have sworn I felt their pain as they burned and then I pictured them laying in their coffins with the gauze covering their faces at the service." The tear that was holding steady at the rim of my eye fell over onto my cheek. "I felt myself closing down at that point, not wanting to feel the loss of them in my life, but seeing Alice in the same position, I couldn't hold on to it anymore. We had made it out of the elevator when my emotional dam burst. The next thing I knew I was crying in his arms one minute and in the next I was begging him to make the hurt go away." I felt my throat spasming and I swallowed hard. "He didn't say no, I didn't want him to. I wanted to feel better and the next morning when I asked him if he was sorry, he asked if I was. I wasn't, I was actually relieved in a way." I wiped away the already cold tear from my cheek.

"Do you feel like he used you Charlotte? Took advantage of you in your fragile state?" Rose's chair creaked and I heard the pad of paper she was holding move across the fabric of her pants as she recrossed her legs. I searched my heart, my soul for one shred of blame I could pin on him. "No. No we were both hurting, both wanting comfort. If it wasn't him that night I'd of found someone else." I blinked several times and dabbed my eyes dry. I was going into the office after this and didn't want to look like I had been crying.

"What I've observed these last few years Charlotte, about how you deal with emotional distress, you bottle it up and stick it up on a shelf with the intent of dealing with later or never at all. It turns you into a time bomb. In this episode, Alice's funeral knocked off one of those bottles off that shelf and it shattered. I know you Charlotte, what people think matters to you and you put up a great front but there's the what if scenario. What if something else triggers one of your repressed feelings, what if you aren't in a position that you can escape... Do you think you'd forgive yourself for slipping? I think you should come back to see me again Charlotte but only after you've done a little honest to goodness soul searching. I want you to write down things you've told yourself that you'd deal with later. I want you to recall instances that you were upset but never allowed yourself the time to process your feelings about. Can you do that Charlotte, be honest with yourself to help yourself finally take down those bottles that are waiting to fall?"

I shook my head yes before I said it. "Yes, I can do that." I left my shrink's office and stepped into the car waiting for me downstairs within five minutes. "Office" I instructed as I mulled over what Rose had asked me to do, it made complete sense. I had to fix me myself, no one else could do it and as much as I wanted to start that instant, I was moments away from stepping into the last place I'd want to break down.

"Should I wait Miss?" The driver had already pulled my door open and his hand was waiting for mine so I could get out.

"No, I'll be several hours I think." He touched his hat and nodded before circling around back to step into his driver's door and taking off. I took a few deep breaths of the already hot and muggy air saturated with the smell of hotdogs and popcorn, the sweetest hint of soda hanging lightly on the edges. In front of me were office workers already taking their lunch breaks; sitting on the steps enjoying the sun. I made my way into the building and went up to one of the floors the company worked off of and was quickly greeted by our receptionist. I kept walking down the oversized hall that was lined with offices holding over-sized desks with ridiculously big leather chairs only to stop at the central coffee station. I didn't feel like having a cup but thought Uncle Carlisle might like some.

"Charlotte, it's good to see you in. I hope it's not an isolated incident that we have the pleasure of your company?"

I heard the little rub in the statement and finished stirring in the sugar into the coffee before adding the the hazelnut creamer uncle liked so much. "Jane you should do stand up comedy, really, I'm deadly serious." I glanced over my shoulder. "Is Mr Cullen in his office?"

"He is and is interviewing a possible new intern, James something." She stepped in and lowered her voice. "He's a looker and I don't mean good looking." She glanced around for any eavesdropping ears. "I could've sworn I saw him looking at my ass and Chelsea mentioned he took a longer than needed look at her chest. Considering how she's always fully covered and professional looking she said she felt naked." Jane backed away, and raised her voice back up to a normal volume. "Mr Cullen is expecting you for lunch according to his schedule, I don't think he'd mind you disturbing him." She proceeded down the hall to reception and I went in the opposite direction.

I knocked once and simply entered. If my uncle was just interviewing then gauging how a lawyer reacted to interruptions was a good tell on their character. Both my uncle and James's eyes found me and watched as I entered and set the coffee down on the desk. As I stood beside my uncle, I removed the empty cup from its coaster and put it aside before replacing it with the fresh cup. James broke the silence, "Would you mind getting me a cup too?"

The stare that Carlisle and I gave him could have turned him to stone and he knew it. I leaned down and gave Carlisle a kiss on the cheek and righted myself before Carlisle cleared his throat. "This is my niece and the primary shareholder for this firm. She will not be fetching you your coffee." James looked like he just saw a ghost by how pale he turned. I looked down at his file and ran my fingers along his grades to find his Bar exam score; none of the numbers were impressive at all. "James is it," I didn't bother to look up. "you are more than welcome to go get your own cup of coffee downstairs and around the block if you get my meaning." I glanced to Carlisle and he nodded. James rose from his seat and left without a word. I loved my uncle dearly but he had a real soft spot for wanting to help everyone. It was endearing and we had set up an entire department for pro bono work that we encouraged all the staff to have at least one case going at all times. It was a good tax write off so when Carlisle suggested it, it was a go. "Chels will need coaxing out of her office and a kind word about how she's dressed today. If James dares to try entering this office again there are at least two women in this office that will have something to say about it." I smiled politely and rested on the edge of his desk.

Carlisle smirked and shook his head at me, "You've been here for what, five minutes and already you've assessed the mood of the office and sent a possible intern running for his life." He tucked away the open file on his desk into his drawer and pushed a thick ornate envelope towards me."I will be needing a date for that and you just volunteered." He took one very good hard look at me. "You've been crying."

I looked away and nearly swore out loud. "It's nothing. I paid Rose a visit this morning and she's given me homework." I eased off of the edge of Carlisle's desk. "I'm taking the weekend and I'll be back into the office on Monday." Carlisle got up and wrapped his arms around me.

"I'm glad, we've all missed you." He eased off his hold a little. "I've missed seeing you. Will you ever tell me what you were up to?" I shook my head no. As much as I needed to step out of this life and into another one, it wasn't something that I wanted people to know about. I knew I could trust Carlisle with anything but this, this I needed to hold on to for a little while longer and come to terms with it on my own, like Rose suggested.

"Let's go, I'm starved and you're buying. Just let me see what state my office is in first before I go." I pulled myself out of Carlisle's arms and righted my skirt a little before I exited his office and wend down a side hall. If one saw my office they wouldn't think much of it. It wasn't like the others with the oversized furniture but rather more reserved. I stood at the door looking at it, it was very much like me, reserved, sparse and lacking any indication as to what kind of person inhabited it. Flowers, plants, something soft, that's what it lacked; and pictures, the shelves held nothing but the odd plaque and award. I'd start with a plant, I stepped in and nodded to myself as I made up my mind. Then, I promised myself, in a week or two, there will be at least one picture of family somewhere in this room. I closed the door and went to find my uncle.

I spent the afternoon in my characterless, lifeless office proof reading through endless documents and case results. Everything was in order as I knew it would be; things ran smoothly with my minimal input over the last few years. I confirmed my schedule for the first few days of the coming week before heading out for some takeout and then home.

I stared at the page before me with only one thing written on it. My parents. I shifted around and set the paper to the side and picked up my glass of wine and sipped it before cradling the crystal glass in my palms. I questioned if I had properly mourned their loss before Alice's death; clearly I hadn't or I wouldn't have ended up in bed with Peter. I reached over to grab my pen and wrote the letter P down next on the paper. I had to take just a moment as the images of us that night, his fingers wiping away my tears then kissing where they were; our lips brushing past each others, him whispering for me to stop crying, that it was going to be alright in time. The tears kept coming, the hurt in my heart was still raw from an event so long ago, from hours earlier seeing Alice resting peacefully. I kept asking, more like begging him to take the hurt away as he pulled my into my room until our lips finally locked onto each others. The sense of urgency pushed us each of us to release the grief that we had been holding deep inside. By the time we had our bodies locked onto one another and withering all grief was replaced with passion.

I swallowed deeply, I hadn't been so forthcoming to Rose, I left out the one detail that should have mattered or at least meant something. We didn't stop there. "Again..." Peter either asked or stated, it didn't matter which it was because I only heard myself repeatedly say yes.

Peter didn't stop whispering the whole time. When his lips weren't pressed on my skin they were at my ear groaning his pleasure or telling me to let it go and he'd still be holding on to me as I fell over the edge. I did just that, I let myself go, repeatedly. By the second time all of Peter's muscles strained and his hips pressed into mine firmly I was already dizzy. Our bodies were slick with sweat, my muscles ached and my eyes were threatening to remain closed each time I blinked; I fought to stay awake as long as I could. I might have drifted off for just a few moments but was brought back with the softest of kisses along my neck and Peter's fingers pushing back my hair only to then run his hand along the side of my body.

I took in a breath and it struck me, slowly, he had stopped talking, we both had. There was a long stare down of sorts between us. It was broken when Peter's thumb grazed the underside of my breast that was was still damp and my hips pushed up into his where we were both still connected.

I didn't remember much after I screamed his name and went limp in his arms; I only remember waking up in his arms.

I took another sip of my wine. The sun had gone down and the lights of the city were slowly coming alive. I looked down at the page at the letter P on it. " I'll call him, soon, talk about it..." It wasn't one of those bottles Rose talked about, one I could take down on my own. Setting down my glass and picking up the sheet of paper, I needed to get through one more repressed emotion; I wrote down my brothers name, Edward.

Edward, Eddy as he called himself took my parents' death very hard, too hard, like it was an excuse to give up on life. After the funeral he started drinking, experimenting with drugs; you name it, he snorted, popped or injected it into is body. He got mixed up with this two bit whore, Bella or something and within two weeks had squandered away his inheritance. "Stupid just stupid selfish asshole." Uncle and I had started working on lawsuits to sue everyone that we could think of to blame for my parents' and aunt's death when we got the call that Eddy was found unresponsive. Bella had called 911 but didn't stick around to take the fall for being the one to inject the new high into my brother's arm. "Bitch." Uncle talked the authorities into not pressing charges if we'd get my brother into rehab and counseling; they agreed. After three months of all that Carlisle and I had hoped we'd get my brother and his nephew back, but no. Bella, that whore, found him and what had took weeks upon weeks to erase, she stole him away from us in a matter of hours. I breathed, "He was clean, he was sober and he decided what he wanted. Carlisle and I went above and beyond what any family would have been able to do and Edward didn't want to be with us." I glanced up to his urn. "You're with me whether you like it or not brother." It was the wine talking by then. My eyes went back up to the top of the page, my parents. "I shed my tears for you a few weeks back," I breathed. "and, well, maybe I'll shed a few more because I miss you not being here." I didn't blame them for Eddie's self induced death, they were blameless.

I finished off my wine and wobbled to my bed. I didn't bother to change into my pajamas, who'd know anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

"And Action!"

The room echoed for a moment as the directors voice faded and I paused before speaking my lines. There were a few scenes that needed redoing and now that things had somewhat settled at home with everything; I was back at work. I focused on my lines; they were heartfelt, moving and were exactly what every woman would dream to hear being told to them and here I was saying them to this less than deserving woman playing a part.

"Cut! Can we be a little bit more sincere Peter?" The director sounded slightly irritated, he knew I could do better but knowing all that was and had been going on with me, and the person laying beneath me; he was being very understanding.

"Action"

I nodded and took a moment to get my head in the right frame of mind, I pictured Charlotte beneath me; her flowing mess of golden curls, full lush lips that always were begging to be kissed and her hazel eyes that could catch the light and reflect back a stunning array of color. I could feel the picture of her in my mind and I relaxed my features; I said my line as if it were to her I was speaking to.

"Cut! Wrap it up we're done! Good work everyone!"

I pulled myself off of my co-star, Maria, and headed directly for my changing room, I needed to shower her filth off of me as fast as I could. There was a rumor going around that she'd caught the crabs or something equally as filthy and god help me, I'd sue everyone if I caught them.

"Running away so quickly Peter?" I heard her behind me but I didn't stop walking as I clutched the towel around me. I was wearing my shorts but in all honesty, even that didn't feel like enough clothing when Maria was looking at you. I kept walking as she trailed behind me in her towel. Her modesty was joke amongst the crew and many of them found her to be exactly what she was so desperately trying to not be known as, the set whore. "I need to get home and you should do the same." I closed my door and locked it. The woman had become even more intolerable since Alice had passed away; I was now open season to her, her career and carnal ambitions.

"I can help you get cleaned up? Don't be that way, I know what I saw in your eyes and felt..."

I shuddered. "It's called acting and indigestion. Go find someone else to lather up!"

I took a breather, she couldn't get in my dressing room; only my manager had the extra key and knew better than to let her near me. I looked around the little room to the mirror above the table that the makeup artist was set up at. Jasper had drawn me a picture, and I frowned at it for a moment. It was of me, him and Charlotte holding hands with Alice as an angel looking down on us smiling. It broke my heart but he was so insistent that I have it and bring it to work. He missed her as much as I did, we all did, and the nana's were doing what they could to keep him distracted from thinking about her as best as they could. Jasper was voicing what we all wanted, he didn't understand why one, of the now three most important women in his life, voluntarily left him. We all wanted her back but how she left us that morning made me question what we did the night before over and over again. "You should have talked to her, really talked to her you idiot." I shook my head; I had hoped to have time to tell her.

I headed into the shower quickly and thought about how I wanted to get home as fast as I could before Maria had a chance to camp out at my dressing room door.

I'd made it out of the building without incident with all my personal affects cleared out of my dressing room and was in a cab heading home. It was Renee's turn to camp out there with the new nanny, to be the buffer between her and Jasper. He was still rebelling the new presence in his domain. "Drive past the address and around the corner and stop on 5th please?" I called out to the driver and he raised his hand understanding. Life had gotten complicated again, I hated that. With Alice still around, the tabloids kept a respectable distance and I was liking it quite a bit but with her now gone they were going apeshit to break their next story about me. Headlines read: Heartthrob is now single. Most Eligible Bachelor Still in Mourning. Mystery Woman Spotted. The last one included a picture of Esme's back and hair. She thought it was immensely funny as did the set crew who were asking me what it was like to date my mother. I scoffed. They were going to split a gut laughing when I show up at the next publicity event with her in tow. Normally I had gone stag to them because Alice was in no condition to go with me but with Maria and all the other single woman in this city trying to get on me in their clutches; I needed a buffer. I had to admit it though, Esme was getting a kick giving the cities finest women stink eyes if they got too close. "Here's good," I tossed up the fare with a few extra dollars. "thank you." I exited the cab and swiftly made it into the building without being noticed.

Once in though my door I felt like I could breath again. Home.

"DADDY!" My legs were instantly tangled with Jasper's arms hugging them tightly.

I dropped my bag and lifted him up into my arms. "You're a sight for sore eyes." I messed up his hair and walked into the kitchen to find the new nanny cooking dinner and sat Jasper on a section the counter that wasn't being used. "Have a good day little guy?" Jasper wound his arms around my neck and climbed back onto me, refusing to say a word. I looked up to the nanny who frowned slightly and shook her head. "It's not your fault, Lauren, he's just being stubborn." I silently thanked my son for his devotion; it said a lot about Charlotte, how wonderful she was to him

"I'll call the agency and see if they can send someone new? It's been a few weeks and I'm not being effective, besides, I'm sure your mother and mother-in-law have better things to do with their days than play referee between us."

I nodded and took Jasper out of the room and to his room to set him down. "I'm going to go tell Nana Rene that I'll be home tomorrow morning, buddy."

"Daddy, she smells funny."

"She's a girl, Jasper, they all smell like something. Don't mess up your room alright?" He nodded and closed his door.

I needed my rest, tomorrow was a press and publicity day. My suit was hanging up, airing out from being at the cleaners and I was already counting the hours until I could be back home again. The only thing calming my nerves was that my mom was going to be at my side for the party that night and she was going to keep Maria at bay. I'd be spending most of the afternoon with Maria doing interviews with and then I'd have a few hours to myself and get changed. I pulled the drawer open on my nightstand and took out the few pictures I had of Charlotte. She was camera shy to a fault but Alice was pretty quick and determined to get a few shots of Charlotte for her memory book that she never finished. Jasper was in them all too, she was glued to him from the start and it's something Alice picked up on right away. That's one thing I noticed about Alice when I first met her, she was the most perceptive and intuitive costume designer and dressing consultant that I'd ever met. She and I had worked together on several projects before I had the nerve to ask her out. It was her all business attitude that I liked when I was first starting out, she knew exactly what the director wanted before he did and made me look great; that and she was never starstruck like other support staff and crews were. It felt like you could talk to her and be at total ease. She and I just melted together to much of many people's distress and objections. Jasper soon followed along and that pretty much ended all the negative talking about her instantly. She kept working at my side until he was born and then opted to stay home.

I could feel the frown forming. It had been a simple blood test that put a crack in our world; but it did bring Charlotte into it. I remembered the day I first saw Charlotte, Alice had been interviewing nannies and she walked in. Charlotte looked at me for all of a half second without so much as even a blush. Everyone prior to that Alice, and even I could tell, reacted to my presence; not Charlotte, she was all business, just like Alice. I instantly liked her and knew she'd be the one I could trust around Jasper.

Jasper was only three at the time but he took to Charlotte instantly, never leaving her side. Alice started relying on her more and more as the doctors appointments started piling up. That seemed like just yesterday now. I remember when Alice started losing hope, it was the day she started getting me ready for her death. I refused to give up on her, how could I? Alice started mentioning how much she loved Charlotte, how Jasper adored her, that she was single. I heard this day after day as Alice's health was steadily failing. I started noticing all of the positive things that Charlotte did around here too. I loved my wife, a part of me will always love her, but it was that moment when I watched Charlotte breaking down in front of me, crying, begging me to make the pain stop, that's when I knew I had fallen for her.

A heavy breath left my lungs. I wanted to keep her here with us, she was the air we all breathed, but she was hurt beyond what had happened within our family it seemed. She loved us, a lot; who would have stayed that long under our circumstances otherwise? I set the pictures of her back into their place in my nightstand, it was late and the morning was coming too fast.

You know you've made it in this business when the national TV stations want your time. This was stuff I had always done for free, not even five years ago. Now my charge out rate for five minute blocks of air time was disgusting. I had a great manager and even though he was considered a snake by many, he kept me working and the paychecks coming in for my family. I had finished the last of my promotional interviews for the day and was back at home for a few moments to grab a quick shower and get changed into my monkey suit. Esme was already ready and once I got her okay we were off to a gala that had been arraigned by the Astoria. The Astoria put on about four of these a year, one for every season and to be invited to it sent a clear signal to the community that you were the upper crust. I'd always thought that term was ridiculous; the crust was always dry and lacking flavor.

Esme and I arrived to a wall of flashbulbs and screaming fans. "Just hang on to me and don't get pulled away, the first half hour is the worse and then it'll calm down. Oh and smile." I could see the stress in her eyes building as the limo inched up closer to where we needed to be. We had gone to similar events in the past but I had to admit, tonight was making me edgy too. We finally stopped and the door swung open and a hand was waiting to help Esme out. I followed behind her and put her arm in mine and proceeded to walk past the fans, stopping to shake a few hands and sloppily sign a few autographs until we made it to the press gallery. I saw Maria at the corner of my eye and leaned into Esme's ear, "The one I was telling you about is dressed up like a flaming hemorrhoid." she laughed and covered her mouth.

"There you are Peter come wait out this madness with us." Aro's voice cut through the crowd and I made my way over to where he was.

"Sir," I gave a curt nod. "This is my mother, Esme. Mom, this is my producer, Aro, and his wife, Sulpicia." They all shook hands as I heard my name being called to go over to have my picture taken with Maria. I nodded and Esme squeezed my arm for encouragement. I made my way through the crowd and took my place beside Maria, who instantly took my arm. We posed, answered a few questions and we posed again; I was gritting my teeth the whole time though my smirks for the camera. The second I heard the "thank you" from the photographer and saw another set of stars heading for the spot I took off back to Esme who was talking to Sul.

"I heard warts." "I heard crabs."

"Ladies," I gave Aro a slightly apologetic look but he knew that Maria wasn't the picture of innocence that she was so desperately trying to portray, I leaned in. "we all think crabs but no one wants to get close enough to check." Both burst out laughing and Esme took my arm back into hers and we wandered in with the rest of the crowd.

The Astoria could lay it on thick when it wanted to. There were swags of golden glittery fabric adorned with stars everywhere, the walls were draped in the same fabric and the lights were playing it all up. Esme let out a wow and if she hadn't broken my own wonderment at the sight I'd have done the same.

Aro stood beside me, "Well then Peter, since this is your first time to this event, lets get you up to speed on how they work. Over there," He tipped his nose to the direction. "is the buffet which is always a good place to excuse yourself to. The powder rooms are around the corner to the right of that. There is a dance floor to left. The actors tend to keep on one side of the room and the important people keep to the other side of the room. That's where I will be." He chuckled at his joke. "Do yourself a favor and limit your associations with only the actors, they can't advance your career like the important people can."

I looked at him in question, it was odd of him to be saying this to me. "Would I be welcomed over there Sir?"

"Oh of course, you're on the menu of many of the high society women, didn't you know?" He laughed again and continued. "Ah there is the prize of the room." The crowd was thick but Esme and I kept looking as he talked to where he motioned. "She's young, rich, single and despite not dating, I have it on good authority that she likes men. The man with her is her uncle and they are the owners of the firm that not only provided us with all of our legal work but put in a hefty sum towards this latest production."

The crowd cleared and Esme perked up, "That's our Charlotte." Aro and Sul's head snapped to look at us; at that moment I sensed that she was well in tune with all the idiosyncrasies as was her husband. There it was, that particular stress that had been eluding me all day until this very moment. "Sorry to interrupt but we know her, rather well actually."

Aro took one look at Charlotte, to Esme, to me and to his wife, never losing his grin, "Truly a night of many surprises. Let's go reacquaint ourselves shall we?" I debated going to find Maria for just a second because the last thing I wanted to do was drive Charlotte away any further than I had. Esme squeezed my arm again, she was excited and practically pulling me along as Aro cut a path for us though the bodies of people in the way.

Charlotte was glowing, her eyes sparkled and she was at total ease as we approached and turned to whisper in her uncle's ear before we reached them.

"Mr Cullen and Miss Cullen, so good to see you out tonight, " Aro interrupted the conversation they were in and the person, seeing who stepped in, bowed out promptly and walked away; Aro had that much pull in this crowd. I could suddenly see what Aro was up to, he was trying to secure his future project's funding by banking on his single actor and an unsuspecting Charlotte. "Mr Cullen I'd like to introduce you to Peter and his sister Esme."

"Thank you but I'm his mother." Esme quickly added and then fell silent as if she was speaking out of turn.

I wasn't sure if I was more nervous now compared to any other time in my life. There was a pause until Mr Cullen broke the uneasy silence from having his conversation cut short to speak. "Aro so good to see you again and you remember my niece Charlotte. It's been a few years but I've finally managed to get her to come to one of these things with me again."

Aro was in his element of society and looked as if he was going to burst into song. Carlisle didn't seem too disturbed by our intrusion but Charlotte looked slightly uneasy when her eyes darted around each of us before settling on Aro who seemed to be running the show.

Carlisle continued, "Charlotte you remember Aro and his wife Sulpicia?" Carlisle glanced at Charlotte and read her as easily as I did. "Come now Charlotte, you've never been one to be shy or star struck."

That little slight seemed to have snapped Charlotte out of her silence, "Aro, Sulpicia good to see you again, and I see you know my friends Esme and Peter."

Silence.

Silence from Aro and his wife.

Silence from Carlisle who looked incredibly confused as to how she would know Esme and I.

Didn't he know where she's been? I began to question if we should have come over at all.

Charlotte continued speaking as if there was nothing surprising of her knowledge of us. "Esme, you look lovely, that color brings out your eyes beautifully. Peter you're looking very handsome this evening as well." I think, with her words, I was finally able to breathe again. She turned her attentions back to Aro, "So I understand all the filming is done on the project and editing is working its magic?" She and Aro chatted and I turned to look at Esme who was keeping remarkably quiet as she was assessed everything, like I was. She motioned for us to head to the buffet table and I excused us to Sulpicia as respectfully as I could without disturbing the conversation. Carlisle gave a polite nod; remaining silent as well.

I wished Esme and I could have found a more private place to talk but other than vanishing from the room entirely, and causing a stir, this would have to do.

"Well," she started, "I had no idea but some pieces of her more refined tastes and behavior are making sense to me now."

I had to think back to the instances when I'd hear her explaining things to Jasper, like a place halfway around the world as if she'd been there just the other day. I nodded as Esme continued speaking and we approached the table with all it's offerings, tempting us to load up our plates.

"I'm not mad, how can I be?She was nothing but good to us, always so kind and Jasper loves her so deeply; I'd never doubt his instincts about people. I just like to know why. Why she came and why she felt that her reason for going was so serious that we wouldn't understand. I know Alice wanted her to stay and not just for Jasper's sake." Esme mumbled the last little bit as if it was common knowledge; it wasn't to me. I decided to ask her about it at another time though as I didn't want to get in to what my late wife was wanting even if it was to my benefit.

I looked around as we placed a few things on our plates, "I'm still trying to get my bearings but I'm glad she acknowledged us in front of her uncle who, to me, didn't seem to know who we were; she never mentioned where she's been I guess." Esme gave a nod and popped a few grapes into her mouth; we hadn't eaten in several hours so this bit of food was highly needed. The crowds of people started moving into the area soon enough; Esme's and my conversation shifted over to the display of finger foods before us. I kept an eye on who was moving to where and whatnot but didn't care to talk to any of my fellow coworkers at this time; I did want to get some time alone with only one other person in the room however.

"Mind if we interrupt you two?" Esme and I turned to see Carlisle and Charlotte arm and arm; they were attached it seemed, much like Esme and I.

"Not at all. I see you managed to shake my producer quite expertly." We all gave a restrained laugh as our attentions turned towards the food.

Carlisle started up again. "Well I did have an ulterior motive and that was to ask Esme for a dance if you'd be so kind to release her and see to it that Charlotte is looked after." I felt the side of my lip curling up, I'd give him my mother and mother-in-law and anyone of my relations for his niece.

"I'll do my best Sir." I handed over a very perplexed Esme who clearly wanted time with Charlotte as well but Carlisle was quick to take her arm and pull her away after taking her plate and setting it down for her. Charlotte was still watching them head off when I scooped her arm into mine and started pulling us away from the buffet table.

"He's questioning her as to how I know you."

"I'd be disappointed if he didn't. Are you worried?" I looked down to her as she was looking around and with the lift of a single finger to a waiter had him rushing over to her with a tray and a single fluted glass of sparkling rosé fluid. She took the delicate glass in her hand, raising it to her glossy full lips to take a sip before replying. "No. If I was I'd never have mentioned knowing you but then I'd really hate myself."

I was still watching her somewhat in awe at how all of her movements flowed with ease. "So you hate yourself now?" I guided us back to the side of the room where all the important people were as most of them were still descending on the buffet table.

Charlotte's eyes fixed to a point in the room, off to the side of me before speaking somewhat quietly. "I'm not exactly proud of myself but if its alright with you I'd like to not go into it here. She," Charlotte flicked her eyes to my side. "a friend of yours?"

I turned my head slightly and only caught sight of the flash of the red dress I knew Maria was wearing. "Hell, not now." I frowned slightly, I was annoyed at the interruption.

I could hear Charlotte snorting. "I can smell the plastic and silicone from here. This should be fun."

I had wanted to know what exactly she'd meant by fun but Maria was closing in fast and I tightened my hold of Char's arm within mine.

"Peter, I want to dance. Come, leave her and dance with me." Maria stood before us with her fisted hands on her hips.

Charlotte took a calculated sip from the stemmed glass captured between her finger and thumb. "I'm not done with him. You can go." Her tone was firm and her words were short. I remained silent.

"Don't you know who I am? I'm the leading lady in our last film that's going to be released soon. I'm a star." Maria appeared to be slightly buzzed and highly full of herself I rolled my eyes slightly.

I saw Aro drifting back over with Sulpicia, as did Charlotte but from where Maria was standing she didn't notice his descent.

"Come Peter," Maria was raised her voice. "lets go."

Charlotte didn't stir as she formed her reply. "I think, no I'm quite sure, I will not be investing in anymore productions that you're a part of." Charlotte turned to me to observe my reaction and I was rather ashamed that I had been rather amused; and wasn't hiding it at all. Charlotte held out her glass and the waiter that was waiting nearby eagerly refilled it from the tightly wrapped bottle that only Charlotte was privy to consuming.

"Maria," Aro's voice came from close behind her and she turned rather awkwardly to him, "with one fell swoop you've effectively and efficiently ruined any hope of a career in this city." The color drained from Maria's face immediately. Charlotte remained silent and I imagined how much nicer it'd be that I'd never have to work with her again.

Aro continued, "If you're quick enough you could catch a flight to LA."

Charlotte interrupted. "Don't bother."

"Well then, I hear Canada is nice..." Aro looked at Charlotte who shook her head ever so slightly and the little movement sent an array of sparkling light from her earrings. "Well then madam you will be required to fulfill the contractual obligations as they are outlined and then, then..." His voice trailed off and we all just stared at Maria who was desperately trying to grasp at words that seemed to be escaping her.

"You're threatening me. I'll, I'll..."

Charlotte's brow wrinkled and the waiter's tray appeared suddenly and her drink was set down on it. I felt her fingers squeezed into my arm. "I did no such thing and you know it. Choosing where I invest my resources is my choice." Her voice was at a very low volume but very firm and it sounded like she was scolding a small child. "Should you say otherwise, I will pursue the deformation of my character to the fullest extent of the law."

"But you said, you said..." Maria was stammering now it was interesting to see her lose her steam.

"Maria, stating a simple fact is no threat and if you had bothered to take some interest in the finer workings of how productions come to be, you would have discovered Ms Cullen's extensive role in it. As it is, you've taken a bit too much of Ms Cullen's time so you'd best be going because your welcome has expired." Maria backed away from us. As she drifted off many heads bowed and chins tipped up in whispers; people pulled away from from her like she was diseased. Aro nodded respectfully towards Charlotte and lead his wife away quickly.

"What just happened?" It had felt like a cat fight but with the lack of yelling and gouging eyes out I wasn't all that sure. I was sure that it was over me and that Charlotte had won.

"That's me giving myself another reason to hate myself a little bit more." Charlotte sighed deeply. "The society pages are going to have a field day with me. I should just call it a night, cut my losses and go."

I wasn't going to let her go, so I thought fast, "I can't let you go, we have unfinished business and its only eight o'clock." and looked around for some reinforcements but saw none. The waiter with her drink showed up and even in her upset state she managed a small smirk and took up her glass.

"I guess you're right. I need to walk around and circulate."

"Did you want me to come with you?" I had hoped she would've said yes but she just took off leaving me alone.

I was as confused as ever and after a few moments of going over the few things that had happened Esme came back over with Carlisle hard on her heels.

"How was the inquisition mother?" Esme's eyes seemed to be more brightened, she was genuinely happy.

"The what darling..." Esme started speaking but fell silent as Carlisle had caught up with her and caught her arm again within his. "Where did Charlotte go?"

I looked over to where she was and Carlisle chimed in very matter of factly. "She's speaking to our competitors," he chuckled, "not to worry about her, she can handle them."

Carlisle returned his attentions back to Esme as I kept my eye on Charlotte. She quite simply flowed in her movements and without needing to hear her she captured them all with what she was talking about. I was listening in to Carlisle speaking with Esme and offered in a few words where needed but mostly stayed out of it.

Carlisle asked Esme, "You still haven't mentioned how you know my niece, I'm rather curious." I turned to look at my mother and motioned a little and changed the subject. Carlisle was persistent but little did he know how resolute Esme was.

"Shouldn't you be asking your niece, Mr Cullen?" I finally added to bail Esme out. She wasn't the kind of woman to say something without worrying how it would affect another person; often she remained silent because of it.

"I should, but after pressing her for several weeks about her whereabouts, tonight is the closest I've come to an answer."

I chuckled and looked back across the room to where Charlotte was; the group she was with had nearly encircled her but she was holding her ground. The waiter that was at her disposal for the evening was nearby attending her glass as were a couple of larger gentlemen off to the side.

"Mr Cullen, excuse me but who are they?" I motioned over as he looked.

"Tiffany's security. My niece has enough jewelry on her to buy a small country." He grinned rather proudly.

"She hires them to watch her?"

"No. They are watching what she has on and will collect it at the end of the night. When they heard that she was attending this year they insisted on her wearing their finest gems."

"And the waiter?" He had already filled her glass at least four if not five times with the dark rosy fluid and yet Charlotte showed no signs of wavering.

"The hotel wants to host our company events so they are trying to bribe us." Carlisle raised a brow at Esme, "you should see my room."

Esme coughed and blushed. "I'm sure that wouldn't be appropriate." She shot a look at me and I was sure that the answer she gave wasn't the one that would have been offered if I wasn't standing there.

"How could I make it so it would be?" Carlisle edged in closer and I turned my head away as if my attention was caught by something across the room. I wasn't going to interfere with her fun.

Esme fell silent; I was certain that she hadn't received this much attention from a man in years and was loving it.

"I think another dance is in order." Carlisle held out his hand this time and she took it; and off they went. He was clearly interested in her and wasn't hiding it, unlike me towards Charlotte.

I wandered towards a few friends I knew and joined their conversation half heartedly as I kept an eye on Charlotte.

For two years this woman was in my home, interacting with me and my family, came on our vacations and all along she was this person I was seeing tonight. I didn't hate this person but yet it was perplexing that she'd want away from this lifestyle. This Charlotte wasn't the kind of woman I'd exactly seek out but I also knew what her laughter sounded like when a dab of finger paint was smooched on her face by a four year old child. I watched her leave the group of competitor lawyers and drift to another crowd and as she moved so did her attendants who went mostly unnoticed. I also noticed a grouping of young men do the same, mimicking her direction. Another move and all the bodies shifted again.

Carlisle came back to me and mumbled that Esme was powdering her nose, I gave a nod and commented, "She's got an entourage."

"Ah yes, you've noticed," Carlisle lifted a glass from an offered tray and sipped. "Those ones are like a pack of hunting wolves. Their career outlook involves finding a rich woman and marrying for money. Useless and ruthless. Char got messed up with one the first time she came to one of these things and after that swore never to pay any attention to them again. I thought that was the reason she wanted to disappear for a few years but she said it wasn't."

"So what happened then, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It was horrible, she luckily discovered that the dog that she picked up took pictures of them," Carlisle motioned non specifically "and intended to blackmail her. Long story short, he served time and has moved out of state. He's probably pulling the same stunt somewhere else but who knows."

"I'm frankly surprised you're telling me this, Mr Cullen, it's not the sort of thing one would normally be sharing."

"Well," We both noticed Esme coming back to find us, "we are all adults here and I'd like to get to know your mother better, if that's alright with you, and me being open about things I hope will garner a sense of trust between us"

"Fair enough, Sir" I wasn't exactly sure if he wanted to hear about the night I spent with his niece or the two years she spent living a few rooms away from mine. We continued to talk, people came to our little group, then they left. Aro came back and insisted that he be allowed a dance with Esme and even Sulpicia was insisting on it so she obliged him. I suspected it was another one of those things Aro did to get in good with the investors as I'm sure he noticed the attentions Carlisle was giving Esme. Charlotte did eventually come back to her uncle, she looked exhausted but still kept her chin up as well as her glass.

When things looked as though they were winding down she set her glass down and in a hushed breath asked me to walk her up to her room as she was feeling tipsy. Carlisle was close enough to hear her and said he'd see to it Esme was looked after in my absence.

As we left the grand room, Charlotte, with one glance had the security team at our side accompanying us to the elevator and to her suite. I'm sure the security guards knew who I was and that I honestly didn't care about the jewels that adorned the woman at my side but they still gave me looks.


	4. Chapter 4

Elevators. I was starting to hate them when I was standing beside a certain someone. With all the bodies around me, including Peter's, I wasn't going to crack like I did before.

The door to my suite was opened for me and I stepped inside as Peter went over to the large picture window overlooking a section of the city and the water. I removed the few rings, earrings, bracelets and necklace easily enough but needed the aid of the nearby mirror to get the jeweled butterfly clips that were scattered within my hair. All the items were returned to the briefcase they came in and silently handed over. I signed off on the paperwork and the guard also initialed that all items were returned and handed me my copy. "Thank you, goodnight." I said and they immediately left me alone with Peter.

I wish I had given this more thought. There was no retreating from my own room and I got the feeling that Peter wasn't going to leave until he got the explanation that would satisfy him. I slipped my heels off and looked down shaking my head. "I owe you an explanation. Where should I start?"

I looked up to see Peter turn his head and look at me in the reflection of the glass before him as his hands went to his bow tie, unfastening it and then shrugging off his suit jacket. He meant to stay a while and I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing just yet.

"I'm not sure if I want to start with this evening or go back a few weeks ago to when you left us." Peter turned and took a few steps to sit down in a plush chair near him. "I'm not mad so please don't think you need to apologize for that but after seeing what I saw tonight you can appreciate how many questions I have."

I nodded yes and hung my head again. I had no problems telling the truth but when it was about myself I was always at odds with giving too much and being left open for being hurt. I circled around the side table I was hiding behind and sat down on a couch facing away from Peter, I didn't want to look at him while we talked. I needed to hear his questions and not try to decipher his questioning looks as I talked and I didn't want to break down either. "I'll start from when I decided to leave my uncle." There was silence so I continued. "It was just after I stopped a guy who I met at one of these things from circulating pictures of me, us, together. I was so hurt and was debating on giving up on humanity when I knew I needed a vacation from this all. I wanted to find innocence again. I thought being a nanny would be an easy enough job to find so I applied to an agency to be one. I had the credentials, thanks to me not knowing what I wanted to do with my life earlier on and taking all kinds of courses, and left out my later education. I had been on the agency roster for weeks when they called me for an intro interview with Alice. I wasn't sure what it was about me that Alice liked, considering I had zero experience but she wanted me to work for you. She explained what was going on with her but I failed to take into account how it would affect me when...she passed"

"Jasper took to you instantly, he wanted you." I took a breath as I heard Peter speak, and looked over my shoulder to see that he was watching me intently, then I looked away from him.

"Years earlier I had lost my parents and aunt in a fire and I had never accepted or properly mourned their loss so at Alice's funeral I was reliving that hurt all over again." I paused, I realised I had jumped ahead too fast. "Alice told me that she expected my employment with your family to be a temporary one so that's why I let myself get get too attached to all of you. I figured that I was going to be let go any moment and Jasper was so easy to love. He was exactly what I needed to be around at that time but I was so stupid and selfish. Now I see how I used Jasper and his innocence to heal me. I once had a younger brother, Edward, but he gave up on life and ended up overdosing on drugs. A part of me missed him too, so being with Jasper and all of you made me feel like I had a family, a whole family that hadn't been fragmented. Carlisle did what he could after I had lost my parents but it wasn't enough. I loved him for trying even as he was dealing with losing my aunt so there was no resentment towards him at all for failing me. If anything he took the place of my father and I'll always consider him as my adoptive father but it was my mother I missed the most; yours is perfect by the way." I heard Peter chuckle from behind me. "I don't regret breaking down on you that night or what we did, but I do regret my actions the following morning, they were inexcusable. I've been picking up the phone a few times since then and hanging up halfway through dialing your number. I wanted to tell you that it was all my fault, to tell you that it was me that was entirely to blame for my own inability to deal with my feelings." I felt the tears building and threatening to fall. "I truly hate myself for doing that to Jasper, I feel as though I've ruined your little boy, your perfect little boy." A tear fell and even though Peter wouldn't have seen it, my voice was cracking slightly. I sat there for a few moments to compose myself and I heard Peter kicking off his shoes.

I didn't hear any judgment in Peter's voice as he spoke. "Your uncle, he was already a lawyer then?"

I nodded yes. "He was and if I'd get off my ass I'd be one too but the thought of taking the bar exam and not getting a perfect mark scares the hell out of me." I laughed a little but kept it to a minimum.

"You didn't ruin my little boy, he's fine. He wants you back, we all do, I do most of all."

Peter sounded so sincere, I wanted to move from my spot and go curl up in his lap but there was a deeper meaning in his statement that scared and comforted me simultaneously. I'd go back to him, all of them but not as hired help.

"Is there anything else you wanted to know?" My emotions felt like they were raw and aching to be either bandaged up or have salt sprinkled on them.

"So you've never dated since the guy you had jailed?"

I swallowed hard."No. I didn't think it'd be appropriate while I worked for you and before that I just, I just didn't trust anyone.."

"You trusted me though."

This felt like salt, it pricked and tested me ruthlessly. "I did. I still do. You could have easily said something tonight but you didn't. It could have been on the front cover of the social section of the paper but it won't be. Thank you for that." I had wanted to add that I just hoped that no one saw us leaving together but who knew. They'd get a juicy story soon enough anyway.

"How drunk are you?" His voice sounded somewhat mischievous for just a moment.

"I'm quite sober. I have been all night. I haven't had any alcohol in several weeks." I shifted my weight on the couch getting as comfortable as I could but it wasn't easy as I was still wearing my gown. I started pulling hair pins out and letting my hair fall freely down over my face.

"What would you say if I told you I was spending the night?"

I heard Peter shifting in his seat and when I glanced back at him through the wisps of hair in front of my eyes I noticed he was leaning forward resting his elbows on his knees. "I... I'm not sure..." I got up quickly and walked to the bedroom that was separated by a set of French doors with a thin curtain over the glass. I needed a break, needed to breathe and be free of this dress. Peter didn't come after me, I waited a few moments before I unzipped my dress and put on my pajamas and a light robe overtop. I debated what his intentions were from the few tell tale things he said but without him confirming or denying them I was only arguing with myself. I peered out of the bedroom to see that he was still sitting in the same spot, laying his head back with his eyes closed. I stepped out and returned to where I was sitting but opted to face him this time. "I needed to change," one of his eyes opened before the other did. "that dress was not very comfortable to sit in."

"I should go, it's late and I'm about ready to fall asleep on this chair, and as comfortable as it is I don't think my back would like me for it."

He was starting to get up and something inside me panicked. The thought of him walking out on me made me blurt out, "You can share my bed if you want." There was silence. "Besides are you sure that you've asked me all that you wanted? But I'd understand if you wanted to get away from me after all that I've done." Now, not only was I inviting him to continue to interrogate me but possibly guilt tripping him to stay. Nice Char, you're a fine piece of work and will make a stunning lawyer one day. I dropped my head and got up, "I need to lay down, it's been a long day." I made my way back to the bedroom and pulled the oversized comforter back on the king sized bed and took off my robe before slipping under the covers. There was silence and I closed my eyes and listened for any sound that would tell me what Peter decided. I heard the door to outside open and close; my heart sank. I had wanted him to stay, in that second I knew it to be the truth. I didn't expect a repeat of that night, as mind shattering as it was, but I'd have liked to know that he wasn't totally repulsed by me. The door of the bedroom was pushed open and closed. I kept my eyes closed and listened to a belt being unfastened, a zipper drawn down and buttons being undone. I was curled up on the opposite side of the bed facing away from Peter when he pulled the covers down and got in. I swallowed hard and waited as he shifted around, without touching me, until he settled.

"Call me crazy but I can see why you did what you did and I can only say that we don't hate you, we just didn't know what we did wrong to drive you off. I'm glad it wasn't me you were trying to get away from."

"It wasn't you or what we did. That actually helped... I'm so messed up." I'm sure I wanted to die at just that second or spend the night underneath the bed hiding. The room was perfectly dark except for a little bit of light trickling in from a lit lamp outside the room thought the slightly opened bedroom doors; there was also silence, an abundance of it.

"So what is it that you do exactly?"

A safe question, thank goodness. "I'm the major shareholder in the firm Carlisle and I have. I'm not officially a lawyer but I oversee the cases we have and handle the public relations aspect. I'm the office manager and I deal with all the little things that take up Carlisle's time and keep him away from the courtroom."

Peter shifted and it sounded like he was on his side. "You did this while you were with us?"

I cringed slightly but I knew he couldn't see. "I did what I could from my computer when everyone was asleep and when you would all go out without me."

"And your uncle never knew where you were? Why did you keep that from him, why the secrecy?"

More salt, wonderful. "I didn't think he'd understand. Don't get me wrong, he's an amazing person but he'd insist that I'd go talk it out with my shrink and as good as she is, I knew it wasn't something I wanted to talk out. I was so tired of talking about my feelings by that point I just wanted to move on with things." I stretched out a little and looked over my shoulder to see Peter looking at me as I suspected and frowned.

"None of that now." Peters brow lifted and I could see his hand moving slightly in my direction but he pulled it back towards himself. "We are past that and I suspect your uncle has gotten what he needs to know about your whereabouts out of Esme by now so no frowning."

My eyes widened slightly, what did I tell Carlisle earlier. "Uhmm about that. He, ahhh was rather interested in her if you hadn't noticed. I may have tipped him off a little about her."

"I did notice, he told me himself that he was interested in her; he wanted to be open with me about it but what could you have possibly said about her to get him all riled up?"

"Well," I rolled onto my back. "I said 'Esme is your next date.' " I rubbed my eyes. "When I got back to the office he was hinting that he should not be a widower at such a young age, that he, as much as he liked bringing me to these things, he should find someone who was closer to his age and... hell I'm sorry. I'll apologize to her." I covered my eyes with my arm and shook my head.

"I wouldn't, she hasn't seen this much attention for several years. I'm willing to bet she will not be able to frown for at least a week after tonight." Peter chuckled and I peeked at him. "I wonder if he's managed to get her to see the inside of his room?"

I stifled a yawn, I was tired and my eyes were getting heavy. "I need to sleep or I'm not waking up tomorrow before noon."

"Good night Charlotte, I'll be here when you wake." Peter lay back and closed his eyes and was still grinning when I finally closed mine and drifted off.

I woke up a few times that night, my exhaustion failing to keep my mind still enough to rest, and at my first waking I had drifted over to Peter's side of the bed and was pressed against him. I stayed there not moving for what seemed like an eternity, listening to his steady breathing. I debated moving back to my side of the bed; as if I was still sleeping but if he woke up then he'd see I was awake then I'd be in a fix for an excuse. I'd stay where I was.

When I woke up the second time Peter's arm was around my shoulders and I was on my side with my leg over his and my arm draped across his chest. I was perfectly comfortable and Peter was sound asleep. Again I debated rolling away back to my side of the bed but dammit why did he have to smell so good. It was the lingering traces of his cologne blending in with his own fresh musky scent. I took a few breaths of that and drifted off again only to reawaken a little later with my back pressed to his chest and my head half on his arm and the pillow. Peter's other hand was resting half on my waist and hip and his thumb was stroking the bit of skin that was peeking out. I could feel his deep breaths washing over my neck; he must have been awake. I kept still, I was again very comfortable where I was and didn't mind that Peter was touching me. I kept my eyes closed and waited to drift off again when I heard him whisper ever so quietly, "This would be so much easier if you loved me back." then he kissed the top of my head through the mess of curls. My eyes shot open and I strained to keep still resisting every nerve and reaction that was wanting to jump. I breathed lightly and steadily; I did hear him correctly. Was he talking in his sleep, I could have been mistaken before thinking he was awake. The weight in my eyelids forced them shut but my mind went back and forth a few thousand times before I passed out again.

I was adrift in a delicious dream, Peter's scent surrounded me and there was light; I was light and was flying as if I was the feeling of joy itself when something stirred within me. Reality came crashing in and I woke up with a jerking motion and out of Peter's grasp; waking him in the process. "No." I whispered grasping my stomach and I kicked my way out of bed and raced into the bathroom making it just in time to be sick in the marble sink.

"Charlotte?" I heard Peter getting out of bed and making his way over.

"Please don't come in," my hand found the faucet and I turned it on for a few seconds before cupping my hand to scoop some water into my mouth to rinse out the acid. "I'm fine, just stay out there." I looked up to see my eyes all bloodshot and puffy. I took one of the million face towels nearby, wetting it and patting my face down. I smoothed my hair back and peeked out to see Peter with his back against the wall and his arms crossed. He wasn't an idiot, he's seen this before I'm sure, no lie I could magically pull out of thin air would be believable.

"You alright?" He kept his head down and didn't even look at me. I couldn't make out if he was angry or not.

"It'll pass, it always does..." I leaned on the door frame.

"Usually by the end of the first trimester if I remember correctly." His head was still down and the shadow over his face wasn't giving anything up. "When were you going to tell me, if at all?"

I could feel my stomach turn and it wasn't the same thing as it was moments before. Peter knew exactly what was going on deep inside of me and on one hand I was relieved that I didn't have to actually tell him but on the other I was terrified at him reacting badly. This had the looks of him heading down the bad path. "I was on the pill. There was a zero point zero three percent chance...I " Peter pushed off from where he was resting and turned his back to me. My voice cracked and could feel my legs shaking to hold me up "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I tried to call you but I was at a loss on how to bring it up over the phone." My eyes stung as they started welling up in tears and I resisted letting any of them fall as best as I could. "When I saw that you came to this thing I was sorta glad you weren't mad at me for what I did, and I knew I owed you an explanation for all that; and this." My arms curled around my waist trying to keep myself upright. "I intend on keeping it. A part of me wants to be a mother, I know now that I'd be okay as one."

"You'd make a great mother... what is it that you wanted from me then?" Peter uncrossed his arms and made his way over to find his discarded clothes on the chair nearby the bed and started putting them on.

What did I want again? I wanted him to know. I wanted my, no, our baby to know its father. I wanted our baby to know it had a big brother and grandmother; I wanted it to know it had something that resembled a normal family. My mouth opened a closed several times as I watched Peter pull on his pants, doing them up and going for his shirt. "I don't want you to go," Peter finally turned around as his fingers were going for the last of his shirt buttons. I could help but recall what he said the last time I woke up in his arms; I could tell him that I loved him but with all my emotions ripping me up inside I didn't want to say it without knowing it to be true myself. "I'm so scared and you're the only one I've told because you're the only one that matters in this." I felt a tear fall over my cheek and quickly went to wipe it away, when I opened my eyes again I saw Peter's feet and the rest of him as I raised my head. His arms went around me and I suddenly felt so small and weak; it was a stark difference from twelve hours earlier. This man has seen me at my weakest twice now and hasn't run or sent me away; perhaps he was awake after all. His arms tightened around me and I was happy just to be held for now; resting my cheek on his chest to inhale his scent and listen to his heart beating. I felt my whole body just letting go and relaxing in his arms; he wasn't going to leave me, not yet.

The outside door to the room opened and the sounds of a cart being wheeled in was heard. Peter and I didn't move a muscle until a little bell was rung and the door was opened and closed back up again. I felt Peter's chest expand and his breath on me when he finally spoke, "You should eat something," His hand squeezed my shoulder. "I'm not all that ready to go and face people just yet so I'll stay for a little bit longer." I nodded and pulled away from him; I was famished so I went to the living room area and Peter slipped into the bathroom. I sat down and started eating and a few minutes later Peter came over and set down the little bottle of prenatal vitamins and took the morning paper off of the cart and sat down to start reading it. There was silence except for the sounds of my eating and the thin paper pages being turned. "There's enough for both of us if you want?"

"I'm fine, you eat." The page in his hand was turned. "We made the papers," He snorted then added, "and Maria too. Seems she hooked up with an old guy." Peter made a face. "Hope he's got all his shots up to date."

I nearly spit up my food and had to take a drink. "I don't want to know about her." I wanted to ask if he'd had all his shots up to date but I was not wanting to test the fragile peace between us.

"I hope I never will have to work with her ever again; the woman was shameless."

I grinned and took a few bites of food; assured that I didn't catch anything that I'd need shots for. The door clicked and both Peter and I raised our eyes to see Carlisle come in and pause to look at both of as the door closed behind him. Peter nodded at him and went back to reading the paper and my uncle just stared at me. "Breakfast?" His eyes went back and forth and he shook his head no.

"I should have called ahead Charlotte, sorry for the intrusion but do you have an extra set of clothes I can borrow for..." His voice trailed off and his eyes went back and forth between me and Peter and I quickly gathered his meaning.

"Convince my mother to see your room." Peter chuckled shaking his head and keep his eyes on the paper in his hands. "I do hope she invited you to dinner, if not then consider this your invitation."

My eyes widened and I got up quickly to go find something for Esme to wear. We were about the same size and I always brought extra stuff with me because I never knew what I wanted to wear the next morning. I came back into the silent room, Carlisle and Peter not having moved or spoken a word since I've left. "These should work and let her know that I don't need them back anytime soon." Peter looked at me and I swallowed hard; gathering his meaning immediately. Carlisle noticed the look and I could see that there was an understanding as to what he expected to hear. "I'm having Peter's baby and am due in, uhmm, less than eight months." I could see the color draining from Carlisle's face; he looked like he was going to throw up for just a second.

"You're sure?" I nodded as he looked at Peter who looked as though he was waiting for a tongue lashing. "And it's his?" We both nodded. "And you're just finding out just now I take it?" Carlisle looked at Peter and he nodded. His eyes returned to me. "Sorry for the intrusion then, clearly you two should talk or something along those lines." He set his key card to my room down and looked us over to asses us both. Peter was neutral as far as I could tell and I wasn't anything but calm by that point other than my eyes still being a little puffy and slightly bloodshot. "I'll see you at the office unless you call me or whatever." My brows raised slightly at his loss of words; my uncle wasn't one to ever know what to say so I was slightly stunned. I just nodded and sat back down and watched him leave. He was right, we should talk or something but I was at a loss and just kept putting more food in my mouth no matter how much I wasn't hungry anymore.

"You have a doctor and all that lined up?" Peter looked up from his paper and I nodded yes. "Good." He mumbled and dropped his eyes back down to the page before him before continuing. "Will you tell me when your appointments are so I can come?"

I choked down what was in my mouth as quickly as I could, "You want to come? I mean sure if you want. I don't think they are anything exciting or... " I burped and Peter raised an eyebrow in my direction. "excuse me."

"I want to come, it'll be good to see you somewhat regularly if you'll let me...and the birth?" He folded his paper down and gave me a very hard concerned look as I went blank.

I hadn't thought of that, labor, pain. I must have gone pale and faded away or fainted because the next thing I realised I was lying down with a cool cloth on my head.

"I'd tell you it's not that bad but I wouldn't know and Alice made it look easy considering..." His hand pressed to my forehead gently. "Don't worry about it alright, just let me know if you want someone there to blame." He sat back keeping his eye on me. "Did you want me to call Carlisle to see you out or did you want me to..."

I squeezed my eyes shut and just shook my head no. "They will be on you like vultures Peter, its not.."

I felt his finger on my lips and I stopped talking and opened my eyes. "That settles it, I'm not letting you walk out of here alone and then having it come out that I abandoned you and crap."

I just stared at Peter; I knew what it was like to take orders from him but the firmness in his voice set me back. If anything, he wasn't looking at me for who I was here but treating me like the person he knew under his roof. "You're sure?" I asked and took the cloth off my head and he nodded yes.

He took a breath and helped me as I started getting up. "I want to, and besides, if Esme found out that I let you walk out alone, knowing what I know, I'd never hear the end of it and would genuinely fear for my life."


	5. Chapter 5

Many thanks to my Beta PetersSugarTits for helping make this legible and to my mate FrozenPeter / RebelliousChaos who is so supportive and always encouraging me to write.

* * *

Once I stepped inside the suite I proceeded to the window and in its hazy reflection I watched Charlotte remove all of the adornments that were leant her and the men quickly made their way out. I settled my mind on staying as long as I needed to to get some kind of explanation to what I had newly discovered and the woman I already knew.

Charlotte's voice was quiet, toned down considerably from what it was downstairs. I turned to look at her, as my fingers went to unfasten the bow tie from around my neck that felt like it had been choking me and then my jacket. "I'm not sure if I want to start with this evening or go back a few weeks ago to when you left us." I found a place to sit, "I'm not mad so please don't think you need to apologize for that but after seeing what I saw tonight you can appreciate how many questions I have." and waited for Charlotte's reply. She came from around the table she was standing at and found a place to sit away from me and opting to not look at me.

Charlotte started and I made no sound, not even when she paused for my approval or disapproval of where she started her story. I realized that what Carlisle had told me earlier was in fact true; how it pained her, more deeply than he may have realized. I listened to her speaking of how she came to be with us and I smiled when she mentioned Alice hiring her because of Jasper taking to her. "Jasper took to you instantly, he wanted you."

Charlotte turned to look back at me, more of the woman I knew showed in her face but I could tell she was struggling deeply with herself. I was amused when she thought my mother Esme was a perfect mother and grandmother sure, but I had an entirely different view of her having grown up with her; all and all yes, Esme is pretty great. "Your uncle, he was already a lawyer then?" I shook my head softly hearing her reason for not finalizing her education. It was starting to sound like Charlotte hated endings, or at least ones that she couldn't predict it seemed. As centered as her attentions were to herself, at least initially, she wasn't totally devoid of feeling and sorry for her actions. If I hadn't' heard the reasoning behind why she came to us I could have easily turned my back on this girl and call myself an idiot for falling in love with her. No one should have gone through what she did, being a victim of her circumstances. "You didn't ruin my little boy, he's fine. He wants you back, we all do, I do most of all." I watched Charlotte react to what I said, she dropped her head slightly and shook it. I let my eyes trail down her body; I knew it well and wished this could be like the movies where there would be -that- moment where the two people would just fall into each others arms. No such luck here so I tried to keep the subject off of my family, when she asked and then back to her; she was talking more calmly about that and its what I wanted to hear anyway.

"So you've never dated since the guy you had jailed?" As much as I didn't like what had happened to her I was glad that she had not dated. Call me an ass but I didn't like the thought of her being in another guy's arms but mine. "You trusted me though." I asked. It was a feeler question and I had often thought that writers were pussies for putting them into scripts but now the wisdom of a short simple question. Her reply was quick, too quick; almost rehearsed so I questioned her sobriety because of the volume coming out of the bottle tonight. Odd, I thought, why hide what you were drinking if not if it were to either let everyone think you were drinking so they would be at ease around you or do it to see who would take advantage of your state of mind. The later seemed to be the most feasible option considering what had happened to her in the past. The past, I thought, was I the next guy she got jailed if I tried something? I didn't think I would be because I had kept our night together alive and well only in my dreams. I watched Charlotte pull the remaining hair pins out of her hair and gritted my teeth trying to suppress the urge of wanting to help her with the rest of them just to be able to run my fingers through it. I leaned forward to get a closer look of her in this state.

"What would you say if I told you I was spending the night?" She looked back towards me, peering through the mess of curls that had an instant effect on me and I made a mental note not to stand up anytime soon. She got up and fled to the adjoining bedroom in the suite and I grinned to myself, it wasn't a no. I lay my head back on the backrest of the chair and waited. I imagined that being one of the only two men in her life, that she trusted, wasn't too bad. I considered that even if she hadn't told her uncle that we had known each other prior to this evening wasn't a deal breaker for us. In fact that little display that Maria had prompted gave me some assurance that Charlotte was a being a bit protective of me. She had trusted me enough to openly bring me to her room so we could talk in private and considering all that she had told me so far I didn't get the sense that it was all in order to end our friendship. In this setting, she must have come to know hundreds of people but I got the feeling that she wasn't necessarily friends with all of them.

I watched Charlotte reemerge from the bedroom wearing, sadly, an excess of draping material that she passed off as her pajamas; and image of her flashed before my eyes. I had to stop seeing her writhing beneath me or I'd go nuts. She sat back down but decided to face me this time, I was glad I'd at least be able to see her face and gauge her reactions more clearly. I was fading fast though; it had been a long day and I was hanging on by a thread. As much as I wanted to stay, Charlotte did not necessarily say I could and if there was any remaining chance that she might turn on me I had to find out. I got up and announced my departure; it was a test and the sudden offering of her bed and further discussion settled my worry about being discarded. She got up suddenly, and returned my challenge by giving me an out; citing her earlier thoughts of me hating her then disappeared into the bedroom saying she was tired as well.

I stood there somewhat shocked. I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't the movies and she wasn't sprawled out on the bed waiting for me. I went to the door outside and placed the card that would keep housekeeping out then went to the bedroom to see Charlotte curled up in a ball on the far edge of one side of the bed. I went to the opposite side and stripped down to my boxers and climbed in under the covers.

I knew she wasn't asleep so I had to say it, "Call me crazy but I can see why you did what you did and I can only say that we don't hate you, we just didn't know what we did wrong to drive you off. I'm glad it wasn't me you were trying to get away from," and didn't expect her to reply and was glad she offered one. I wanted to keep talking to her, all night if I could but the sleep was wanting me. "So what is it that you do exactly?"

I listened as best as I could even though my eyes closed for longer periods of time as I kept asking her a few more questions her. I forced myself awake when I heard her mention her shrink. That's good, I thought; at least she wasn't going though all her shit alone. My hand started to reach out to her, wanting to reassure her that I wasn't judging her but I withdrew it, not wanting to push my boundaries and find myself vanquished to the couch. "We are past that and I suspect your uncle has gotten what he needs to know about your whereabouts out of Esme by now so no frowning." The look on Charlotte's face and her next comment started out a whole new course of discussion. Seems she had given my unsuspecting mother a glowing review to a bachelor that valued her every word. I thought about it and thought that Carlisle couldn't do better than Esme; after all she'd been lost after dad died and I'm sure was lonely on some level. I wished Charlotte goodnight. I thought, as I drifted off, in light of all that was talked about that I wouldn't regret tonight.

The first time I felt Charlotte brushing up against me I thought I had been dreaming and dismissed it as my overactive imagination. The second time, after I had a few hours of sleep I woke and found myself still on my side of the bed, spooning her. Placing my hand on her waist I felt the bit of smooth skin exposed there and stroked my thumb over it. I felt myself stir and reminded myself that I wanted this woman for the long term and not just mindless sex. I felt Charlotte move slightly and I thought she might be dreaming. Would she hear me in her dream say that I wished she'd love me back? I said it, kissed her head, inhaled her scent deeply and knew if anything split us apart that this would be the one moment that I would treasure for the rest of my days.

I drifted off again as soon as the words were said and was awoken suddenly by Charlotte pulling away from me and bolting for the bathroom. I called for her as I started getting myself out of bed and walked over; hearing Charlotte quickly getting over her upset stomach. She didn't drink anything last night so it wasn't a hangover I thought before it dawned on me and I froze in my tracks, my back hitting the nearby wall. The reality struck me and I had to take a moment to let it all sink in. I saw Charlotte peek out from the bathroom from the corner of my eye, "You alright?" I asked but I knew she was. I was happy, ecstatic and yet deeply saddened that she felt like she couldn't tell me. I figured that it was mine right away, based on Charlotte's history with men but why the secrecy unless she thought I'd disapprove. She started stammering on with little interjection from me but I was only listening to the negative voices in my head telling me she didn't want to tell me and that she was friend zoning me into an indifferent part of her life. I turned my back to her, I didn't like where this was heading. "You'd make a great mother... what is it that you wanted from me then?" I heard myself saying.

I never felt the urge to run from my own feelings in all my life so I went and started to get dressed. I heard her voice breaking down and it pulled me out of my thoughts to look at her. Shit she was breaking down again like she did that night and I was the reason this time. Then she said that I was the only one that mattered and meant it. I had Charlotte in my arms in a second and we just stood there as the door to the door of the suite opened outside and closed back up soon enough. I didn't want to let her go but she did need to eat something so I sent her off. I went to wash my face in the bathroom and noticed the bottle of vitamins so I brought them to her. I picked up the paper, declining the offer to share her breakfast and bid my time as Charlotte ate. I flipped to the entertainment section and spotted a picture of myself and Maria as well as a smaller one of me beside Charlotte and Carlisle. They didn't say much about us but I quickly read that Maria found herself an older fella who looked like he was about to kick off. I shook my head. Charlotte was right, I didn't want to know about her and I glanced over to Charlotte to make sure she wasn't choking on her food. Maria liked pretty and powerful men and seeing that she was never able to get her claws into me or anyone else, this guy must be loaded. If I suspected correctly, Charlotte's little comment to her; and Aro's interjection, drove her to this new arrangement.

I had just finished speaking when I heard the door lock click and the handle turning. I didn't want to say I froze but there simply wasn't time for me to get up and hide in the bedroom ether. I gave Carlisle a nod and kept reading the paper as he looked between his niece and myself. I decided to interrupt his question. I knew I was snubbing him, the woman in his room was, after all, my mother . I was merely with his niece and I thought that I was okay with the two of them together if it meant that I'd see more of Charlotte, even if she ended up not being interested in me.

Charlotte quickly got up and disappeared into the bedroom and came back just as fast with something Esme could wear on her walk of shame. Carlisle -I'm sure- was still going though what one says during these types of situations, based on the look on his face. I could only wonder if his niece had ever told him anything about what was going on with her personal life. He had a right to know and I was glad Charlotte got my meaning when I looked at her and then to him.

I couldn't imagine what went through Carlisle mind immediately after she told him about the baby. I was glad it wasn't any thoughts about inflicting pain on me though. He asked if she was sure and if it was mine and if I had known. If I had known before now, there wasn't anything that could have stopped me from being with his niece. As it was, I was here now and had no intention on leaving her side. He quickly left and returned to Esme who was probably eagerly awaiting her clothes for a quick and discreet getaway. Charlotte sat back down, a little shaken but at least this part was done and I only had my mother to tell unless Carlisle beat me to it.

I needed to get Charlotte talking so I decided to start by asking if she'd had found a doctor, including asking about appointments. I wanted to be there for her and not a deadbeat sperm donor dad. I looked up when Charlotte burped and tried to keep my air of being serious with her, this was important stuff. "I want to come, it'll be good to see you somewhat regularly if you'll let me...and the birth?" I folded the paper down, giving Charlotte a very hard and concerned look as her eyes went wide and blank under my scrutiny. She started leaning dangerously forward and I sprang up from where I was sitting. I made it to her just before her body hit the floor. Scooping her up, I lay her on the couch and went to get a face cloth from the bathroom for her. I sat there after placing the cloth on her forehead, holding her hand and watched the clock. If she wasn't awake in three minutes I'd call 911 and I didn't care who'd find out our little secret. She began to stir within a few moments and I started calmly talking to her, "I'd tell you it's not that bad but I wouldn't know and Alice made it look easy considering..." I pressed my hand on her forehead where the cloth was. "Don't worry about it alright, just let me know if you want someone there to blame." she started shaking her head no and I felt my anger start to bubble up so I stopped her speaking right there and then. I was going to make sure she made it out of this place and all the way home if needed. Esme would have my head if she knew I'd left Charlotte to her fend for herself after she had fainted on me.

I gave Charlotte space while she got ready and packed for our grand exit. She didn't seem to be suffering any ill effects from fainting on me and I decided that it must be due to her getting overwhelmed and not a physical thing; anyways I would mention it to her doctor if I met him. Charlotte had herself together and all her stuff packed within thirty minutes and I was impressed at her speed and having only one smallish case that all her stuff fit into. If it were Alice, there would have been at least three of those bags. Charlotte had her hair tied back into a little bun and her makeup was very toned down from what it was last night; she looked like she was ready to go into work.

We left the room, my jacket over my arm and Charlotte's bag in the other and were in the in the lobby in moments. There wasn't a wall of flashbulbs or any media that I could see but Charlotte kept her eyes straight and we headed to the desk where she set down her two key cards and asked for a car to be brought around.

"We are taking you home first so I know you get there alright," I whispered into her ear, "and besides there are always a few cameras at my front door and I'm willing to bet they have been waiting on me to get home."

She nodded and looked down before looking back up to me, her expression slightly relaxed and managed a little smile. "That would be best."

The attendant came over, taking Charlotte's back and apologizing for the crowd outside instructed us to follow him. I swore something awful under my breath, hoping that Esme had used a different exit than Charlotte and I were about to hotel had roped off a corridor, of sorts, to keep people back and we quickly made our way to the awaiting car. I helped Charlotte in and got in behind her, ignoring them as people shouted their questions, jetted out pictures for me to sign and flashed their cameras.


	6. Chapter 6

Peter had left me on the step and took off once my doorman had me in view. We rode in silence the whole way to my place; unable to talk about the elephant in the car with us. What could I have said anyway, that I hoped it was a boy or girl, and how I looked forward to visiting him and Jasper for Christmas and birthdays. Peter cared for me, deeply, and long before our intimate night together.

On the following Monday, I found myself at my desk pushing a row of staples around with the tip of my pen. I had lots to do but still couldn't focus any of it. My phone rang, startling me from my task of making the staples pass through the scattered paperclips, and I picked it up only to hear Carlisle asking me to come to his office promptly. I got up and wandered over and with each step I took I wondered what the topic of conversation was going to be. I walked in and he only pointed to one of the oversized chairs in front of the tv screen he had paused with Peters face on it. "You should see this." Carlisle closed the door and pressed play on the remote he was holding.

The interviewer starts up by introducing Peter and Maria and the camera zooms out to show Peter sitting with Maria, separated by a table with two glasses of water on it for each of them. "So the new film is set to be released shortly, excited?" Maria answers, "We are thrilled that its finally finished and it will hit the big screen soon and have all of our fans see it." Peter just nods and takes a sip of water letting Maria talk and go on about how wonderful everyone was in the production and what not. The interviewer asks Peter specifically, "So I hear there are some pretty steamy scenes with you two, any sparks fly during filming?" There was a very fast reply, "No. Maria and I are professional actors and what you see onscreen is that professionalism." Maria's face forced a smile and she went for her water, the interviewer continued, "What a shame, you two make a very charming couple. I heard that you two attended a mixer of sorts of all the stars and industry supporters on the weekend, how did you find it?" Maria replied first even though it looked like the interviewer intended the question for Peter, "It was the grandest event I've ever have the pleasure of attending. I hope to be invited back again."

"Fat chance skank." I grumbled and Carlisle just shushed me.

"Peter, what did you think? We understand you were quite taken by a Ms Charlotte Cullen." There was the briefest of moments before he answered her. "I had the pleasure of seeing her there and being introduced to her uncle Carlisle Cullen. To say I was taken with her is pure speculation."

"Our sources tell us that you were seen leaving the ballroom with Ms Cullen, and went to her room?"

Peter shrugged it off, "I had some legal questions for Ms Cullen and a crowded ballroom wasn't the appropriate place to discuss them. Besides, Ms Cullen knew how busy my schedule was going to be in the next few weeks leading up to the release of the film and was kind enough to cut her evening short to help me out." Peter looked very calm the whole time but then glanced to a place behind the camera and then they cut to a commercial quickly. Carlisle switched the tv off. "Is that it?" I turned to look at Carlisle who set the remote down on his desk.

"That's it. That interview was to go for four more minutes with them both and after the commercial break it was all Maria and trivial questions."

I shrugged and looked at my fingernails, "So why did I need to see that?"

"I brought you in to see that because I thought you should know that was filmed yesterday afternoon and after I saw it I called in a few favours and found out that Peter has refused all further interviews unless the questions are first outlined and he can veto any that he doesn't' wish to answer. When the networks questioned his actions, his manager just replied that in light of what's happened in Peter's personal life; losing his wife, he isn't willing to go into any topic that isn't directly related to the film." Carlisle took a seat behind his desk. "It's something he put into his contract so they can't challenge him on it, at the time his wife was ill, and well, he is exercising the option." Carlisle looked to his closed office door. "And in light of current circumstances he could have easily not exercised the option and…. caused a media frenzy at our door."

I nodded my head slowly and smiled inside understanding that he was protecting me and our baby's privacy on his end as best as he could.

"I don't want to scare you Charlotte but you know the press can be ruthless and the ones in the entertainment business are the worse. I don't want you getting hurt and don't want you being stressed, it wouldn't be good for your health and everything so I wanted to know what I could do and possibly meet up with them to discuss our strategy."

I shuddered feeling cold suddenly. The sound of having some kind of plan of attack was already making me nervous but Carlisle was right, he usually was. "So you should call them and set something up Carlisle?"

"Oh no, not me Charlotte. You need to be a part of this and be leading it. I'll support whatever your decisions are and offer suggestions but you have to get the ball rolling. I'm sure you have a number you can reach Peter at, or at least his mother?" His voice took on an entirely too interested tone at the mention of Peter's mother.

I glanced up at Carlisle. I never did question him about his night with Esme but thought against asking him now because he'd say I was changing the topic. "I have all their numbers. I'll call Esme first, she's probably the easiest to get a hold of right now." I noted the timid eager look in Carlisle's eye and got up, circled around his desk and took a piece of paper off his note pad and a pen and paused. "You sure you don't want to call her? I mean, you know her so well now…" He rolled his eyes and looked away as I started writing down their numbers. "I'm giving you these because you should have them but if I were you I wouldn't call Peter up just yet until he knows your number first. He has a tendency to change his phone numbers often when he thinks they've been compromised." I picked up the receiver of Carlisle's phone after glancing at the time and dialed up the house number. After the third ring there was Esme's familiar voice. "Hi Esme, its me Charlotte. I just wanted to see if you made it back home alright and to see when we can get together for that dinner." Carlisle edged in closer to listen and I didn't stop him.

"Yes, I made it back alright, no problems there. Dinner, well lets see, did you want to come over here? I do hope you both can come," There was some slight wavering in Esme's voice and I didn't' think it was because I was the one talking to her. Carlisle gave a quick nod, having heard her asking. I gave Carlisle a smirk and shook my head at his eagerness to see her again. Esme continued, "it'd be best, I think, rather than being disturbed at a restaurant... you know."

"Yes that's what I was thinking too and my uncle will be coming if that's not too much trouble." Carlisle frowned me and I inched away from him. "So what's Peter's schedule like this week, not too busy I hope?"

I heard Esme flipping through the day calendar that had Peter's schedule in it. I remembered Alice showing it to me and saying how important it was that it always be kept up to date and to always write in time for Jasper in it. At the same time I noticed Carlisle bringing his schedule up on his computer screen and was moving his late day appointments to earlier times or pushing them to the mornings of following days. I rolled my eyes and heard Esme start speaking again. "Ah here we go, he's got a meeting with his agent tonight, tomorrow he's having dinner with that producer I met on the weekend on the Wednesday so, Thursday, is free if you are?" I looked to Carlisle who all but already cleared off everything on his Thursday afternoon and Friday morning and was doing the same to my appointments; I raised my brow at him then shook my head again.

"Thursday night is good. Should I come early and help out making something or bring something along?" Carlisle, who only ever knew me to know my way around a take out menu, sat back appearing astonished.

"No that's fine Charlotte, I can manage it all," There was some restraint in her voice, she sounded like she wanted to dive into some serious conversation but knowing her she'd never do it over a phone but in person. "we will see you around five if that works for you?"

"Yes that's fine Esme, Carlisle and I will see you then. You have my phone numbers if something comes up and we need to reschedule. Alright, I should get back to work, we will see you then." Esme and I said our goodbyes and I hung up.

"See now that wasn't so hard was it Charlotte?" Carlisle was grinning like a kid that's been promised candy and I was still shaking my head at him.

"The only thing I gathered from that conversation was that you didn't get her number the whole night you were with her, " I looked down at him as he lost his grin. "in fact I can only deduce that there was very little talking between you two the whole night." I crossed my arms after setting the phone down, and faced him fully. "So Mr Cullen, do you have a statement for us?"

Carlisle glanced down to my belly and then back up to me. "We, Charlotte? I could ask the same of you, " He sat back with a very smug look. "After all, there are a few years that I'd like to be caught up on but as it is, I'll just wait until Thursday evening where I hope all my questions are answered. As for yours, I plead the fifth."

I felt my brow crease, I didn't like him spoiling my fun but I wasn't about to tell him what I had been doing all that time just yet. "Fine, be hostile." I unfolded my arms and made my way over to his office door and rested my hand on the handle. "I hope you do realize that we work together in the same office and any and all questions pertaining to dinner on Thursday night may or may not be answered by myself and I will be pleading the fifth as well." Carlisle looked resolute as I exited his office and went back to mine. Jane followed me into my office and I swept away the staples and paperclips that were still littering my desk and sat down. "What do you have for me today Jane?" Jane unloaded the few letters that had arrived, already opened.

"There are a few interesting resume's that should be looked at, a thank you note from Tiffany's and a copy of the the check they wrote in donation to the memory of that lady, and several invitations for financing aide for projects." I looked up as Jane stood over me and separated the little piles. My hand went to the thank you note and I pulled it from the pile and tucked it into my desk drawer.

"Okay I think I can deal with this on my own. Thank you Jane." I looked up to her and she stayed fixed in place. "I had a nice time, it was fine." She didn't move. "You'd make a good prosecutor Jane." She still stared me down. "Is Mr Cullen putting you up to this?" Her head shook no. "What is it that you want to know then, I'm not giving you any random information."

Jane's voice was extremely low and I strained to hear her. "Mr Hale was seen leaving with you on Sunday morning, so what happened?"

My hands stilled and I focused my eyes on hers that were dead centered on me. "He was a perfect gentleman, never touched me." Jane looked utterly disappointed. "He's just a guy Jane." She sighed heavily and turned away. I wasn't sure what came over me suddenly but I found myself blurting out, quietly. "I'm pregnant with his baby. I'm sure the news of it will come out soon and I wanted you to hear it from me first."

Jane froze in place and took a moment. "So he's just a guy…." Jane turned and scanned my face to see my reaction before she gave me hers. "He's just a guy who's baby you are having?"

"Yeah, I'm having it. He knows I am and so does Carlisle. His mom might know, I'm not sure though." I sat back and kicked my heels off, I was already tired of wearing them. "He's just a guy I had sex with and he's really nice, a great dad and I like him a lot but… but its too soon to be saying this or that and making," I pressed my palms together "together plans you know?"

Jane just shook her head, "So you want my advice then," She didn't bother to wait for my yes or no. "so here it is. Figure out if you like him a lot or more and see how he feels about.."

"He said he loved me. He thought I was sleeping and he said, 'It'd be easier if you loved me back.' or something like that. That was before I told him about the baby and now I just don't know if that still stands or not." I rubbed my temples, I was getting stressed but in a way it was nice to finally get this out to another woman.

"So like I was saying, figure it out and see how he feels. It's not about you or him here, its about the kid you are going to be having and what is going to be its life with you two that matters." Jane took a few steps away and looked back. "Besides, the what if's would kill you if you didn't find them out."

Jane left and I just sat there staring at the door. She was right, I needed to know if that was still the case and I needed to know how I felt about it. The problem was I was so guarded with my feelings, as my shrink Rose would attest to, that I was trying to put what I felt about Peter in a box and putting it up on a shelf. Perhaps seeing him so soon was a good thing, I could walk in there and see how I felt about things, now that he knew and had time to process, and could fairly asses what I felt. I nodded to myself, "Okay that's the plan then." I shuffled through the stacks Jane brought me and started reading; I could get through work stuff but why couldn't I apply that to me.


	7. Chapter 7

I checked the calendar again. Tuesday. I sighed and put my forehead down on my desk; my empty desk. I should have kept a bit of work from yesterday for today, if anything, to occupy my mind until Thursday. Jane had, at Carlisle request, moved the one thing I had scheduled that afternoon to the morning so we could help him get ready but knowing him it was his way of getting me away from the office and to his place to help him pick out something to wear to make the best impression possible. I wanted to call him out on his eagerness to see Esme again but I kept reminding myself that he also had been through so much when my aunt died and this was the first person he had been excited about since then.

I picked up my empty coffee cup that had not had the pleasure of coffee in it since I came back to go make myself another cup of strawberry tea. I wasn't fond of tea but it gave me a reason to get up and walk around. Just as I was passing Carlisle's office he called me in and pointed to the chair. I just shrugged and took my place as he shut the door and started his recording up. "Why are you making me watch this…." He shushed me and hit play.

The recording started out with flashbulbs going off and what looked like the entrance to the Astoria hotel. I sank in my seat, I already hated what I thought I was going to see. The voice over was talking about the event and who was present and there was a shot of Peter and Esme walking in on the red carpet. Then the reporter starts into who was there and listing off their credits and what not. I shifted again as the scene moved to the interior of the building and there were the shots of people talking and there were Carlisle and I. We looked good and I took a second to appreciate the jewelry I was wearing up until the point where the voice over came back on again announcing the next cut of footage that was clearly taken with a phone camera showing Peter and I walking off.

"Oh God I'm going to be sick." I buried my head in my hands and started shaking.

"None of that now, it's not like they followed you up to your room. Besides, Tiffany's called me and said that they escorted the person who recorded that out of the building under suspicion of conspiring to theft. He didn't challenge them to be let back in but they weren't allowed to confiscate the recording ether." Carlisle stopped the recording at an image of Esme. "Its nothing but I wanted you to see it because I've already heard from Jane that there have been several calls from a few places asking for our comments on it, on you and Peter. It's better heading into these things knowing isn't it?"

He was right, I hated it but at the same time liked that he was on my side in this. "What now then?" I lifted my head up a little; feeling like an insolent child at this point, what had I done.

"Now we do nothing but back Peter's story that you two were discussing legal matters and that our clients business is confidential. I don't want you get stressed over any of this. If anything it's good press for the firm and we have gained a new client and several more have expressed interest in our services including a well-known local newspaper, The Uptown Beat." There was a light knock on the door and Carlisle switched off the screen before he called for them to enter. Jane walked in the room and shut the door behind her. She glanced over to me and back to Carlisle. "Our second line is in place and watching. We've already issued one warning letter to a Mr Black for photographing Mr. Hale's son without proof consent with the intent to publish materials for profit. He had a few items in his file so he surrendered the photos and signed off on the voluntary restraining order." Jane put the file on Carlisle desk. "Other than that, the usual players backed off from Mr Hale's home when they saw us and there hasn't been any other issues thus far."

"Thank you Jane, well done." Carlisle glanced over to me and I felt myself go deathly pale. "Do get Charlotte something to drink please?" She nodded quickly and went off. "I told you not to get stressed, its not like we are a new firm and have never needed to handle the press before." I nodded as Jane came back with a cup of tea for me to which Carlisle raised his brow; knowing me as well as he did and my coffee preference. "Good, I'm glad Jane knows, I don't feel so awkward now."

Jane smirked at him and I just shook my head. "I shouldn't be that predictable…." I sipped my mint tea and frowned at it.

"I think that's everything for now unless you had something else to bring to my attention Jane?" He sat down behind his desk and I thought I should have left at that point but decided to stay for the sake of being nosey.

"The flowers have been arranged for Thursday and they will arrive an hour before you do. The Beat has sent back the scope of services contract but haven't backed down on the one request." Jane glanced over to me and back to Carlisle. "I told them that we were still discussing the matter and would get back to them. Emily has notified building security of an unusual number of walk ins off the street asking for Miss Cullen and requested that a security guard be posted outside the office to deal with the ones that insist on lingering around."

"Tell Emily that she can call the security company to assign someone for the rest of the week and next for the office just to be sure. Charlotte I'd rest better if we could post someone in your building until things blow over."

"Sure whatever." I stared at my tea and shook my head. Deep down I knew this wasn't going to blow over and knew that there would always be someone watching me or Peter for the latest scoop. "What did The Beat want?" I sat up and lowered my cup of tea to my lap. "What was the request?"

"They," Carlisle paused as he found the folder and opened it up to read from it. "want the option of three formal interviews with you and Mr Hale at their request and exclusive rights to our press releases regarding your interactions." Carlisle looked up from the page to my opening and closing of my mouth, grasping at what to say to it.

"Oh." I needed a moment to remind myself that only the two people in the room plus Peter and possibly Esme were the only ones that knew about the baby. "Are they worth the contract?" Carlisle nodded yes. "Tell them that I'd be willing to do two interviews at their discretion and that, contractually, we can not legally enter Mr Hale into a binding agreement with them because of our firms dealing with him. Also, no one can hold exclusive rights to anyone's interactions, especially mine and I will not sign off on any of it if that line remains in that contract. If I want to go out I'm not checking in with them. Uncle, we are not desperate for their business and I think we should wait until tomorrow to reply to them, let them sweat it out. If what you showed me this morning is out then I'm willing to bet that they saw it too and are playing with us. If there isn't a term on that contract length then I'd put that in there too so they can't drop us, if they agree to my terms, after a few months." I could feel the anger building up in me at the situation and I liked it, it was better than feeling like the victim. "If there isn't anything else, Jane I'd like to keep my calendar clear except for my usual responsibilities and have the secretaries take messages from new callers so that they can be verified, no need in filling your day with nonsense. I'll need a new unlisted cell phone as well." Jane nodded as I got up and left Carlisle's office and went back to mine.

"You weren't answering your phone after you left that interview and your agent has been calling every hour on the hour." Esme held up a wooden spoon at me. "What if it was me calling with an emergency?" Her pointed look made me frown.

"I wasn't in the mood to talk to him and I was screening my calls, I would have answered if it was you." I looked into the living room where Jasper was setting up a tower of blocks with Renee. My voice lowered to a whisper. "Things got a little tense after I walked off the set with Maria and the producer threatened to sue if I didn't' get back in my chair. After I reminded my agent, Dem, about the privacy clause in my contract he nearly had it out with the producer. I got out of there and went for a walk." What I didn't want to tell Esme is where I went so I picked up one of the peeled carrots out of the nearby bowl and bit into it. I was in a good mood, even after the interviewer brought up the question about Charlotte. I still spent the night with her. I still was the father of her child. I was going to be seeing her again, and if things worked out, have her in my life in some capacity. I was still reeling from last night and wanted to enjoy it a little more.

"You could have called. Dem sounded put-out but not upset, and actually excited, for some reason, the last time he called. Did you check to see if he left any voice mails for you?" Esme pulled the bowl of carrots out of reach and went back to stirring something simmering on the stove.

I pulled out my phone and plugged it in and started up the recordings.

"Peter. Well shit where did you go? He was willing to continue the interview after he had it out with the hostess. Call me." "Peter, it's an hour later and we are done here. Where the fuck are you? My phone has been ringing off the proverbial hook about getting you in front of cameras."

"I swear you need to call me ASAP! Shit's getting real and you're the reason why. You and I need to talk, IN PERSON. I need to know what the actual fuck happened and what you want to do about it."

I set my phone down and kept it on silent mode. "He did sound excited." I shrugged and looked around for something else to munch on before dinner. "He wanted to talk in person, I guess I should have him over?"

"Invite him for supper tonight, I'm making too much again and he's too thin for his own good." Esme replied and swatted at my hand as it was going for some peppers.

"Fine." I picked up my phone just as it was ringing with Dem on the line. "Demetri's house of pizza, how can I help you?"

"Fuck Peter how can you honestly be joking at a time like this? Where the hell did you go and where are you now, we need to talk." Dem was at full volume and hyper which wasn't good but not necessarily bad.

"I'm home and you've been invited to dinner that will be ready.." Esme mouthed one hour to me. "in one hour and I will remind you of the language policy that still stands."

There was a breath of relief on the other end. "Fine fine, tell Esme that I'm still sorry for last time I swore in front of Jasper. I'll be there in twenty if the traffic lets me though."

He hung up and I set my phone back down. "An hour? I'm going to starve." Esme held up her wooden spoon at me and I backed off to go get changed. I wanted to tell Esme about the baby but with so few secrets between us it was tantalizing to keep this one for myself just a little bit longer.

I walked back into the kitchen, changed, and sat across the island from where Esme was finishing up dinner. "So we didn't get a chance to talk this morning, how did you like the party?" Esme knocked a spoon off the counter and went to pick it up, somewhat startled by my question.

"It was fine, I had a lot of fun and it was interesting to see that place all done up like that. Aro and his wife were rather kind to talk to me, as well as Charlotte's uncle Carlisle."

Esme kept her back towards me as she fussed with what was on the stove. "Did you two have a nice evening after the party?" Esme's head nodded like she was found out and I could see her jaw clenching slightly.

"Yes. Yes we did." Esme took a deep breath and turned to look at me. It looked as if she wanted to question me on how I knew she had stayed the night because she had arrived home before me on Sunday. "He's a very nice man and I hope to see them both again if they do take up your offer to come to dinner."

I rested my elbows on the counter and stared her down but she wasn't going to budge with any more information. "Well I spent the night in Charlotte's room and we talked a great deal. She's sorry she had left us as she did and I will be seeing her from time to time." My hands clasped in front of my mouth and I rested my chin on it to watch Esme finish cooking, awkwardly, in the knowledge that I had of her being away that night as well.

The doorbell rang and I rose to let Demitri in. Jasper started running for the door but when he realised it was Dem, he turned around to go back to playing with Renee. I brought Dem to the kitchen and we sat and watched Esme as she cooked.

"Esme, good to see you again," Dem nodded over to her, "and there will no repeat of those words, I promise you." He turned to me. "I'm glad you went to that and don't worry about today, if anything it was great press for you and people are talking. I've got a few things to add to your timetable this week and wanted to double check with you before I called them back to firm things up."

I pulled over the calendar and we started writing stuff in. "That's quite a bit of extra stuff, you are charging them my standard rate of course?"

"I'm insisting on it and when I confirm that the 'whatever' is a go I'll ask for a non-refundable deposit. Your time is money right now and I won't be letting anyone waste it. I got a few calls on having you being a spokesperson for various products and what not, but I think I want you there with me in person for those negotiations so you can pick what you like. Besides, it'll show your interest and they'll be hard pressed to drive the price down with you sitting there, you know."

I nodded at Dem and got up to help Esme set the table. "So why all the interest all of the sudden? Everyone's known about this movie for weeks." I knew the answer, Aro made it pretty clear and when Charlotte put Maria down it was solidified in my mind the kind of influence she had.

"Well Peter she's, her part ownership in that firm, is well known and the amount of money they funnel into the industry and make on their return is nothing short of astounding. Maria has called me a few times begging me to represent her but I sure as fuc… heck won't go near her now that she's been snubbed." Dem shot Esme an apologetic grin, he was trying so hard to not swear and tonight was shaping up to be a record for him. "You knowing Charlotte and her liking you is like a magnet for producers to get the funding they need to make their films. The industry isn't dying but people willing to invest in bigger budgeted productions are, and they have to cast their nets our pretty far to get the capital they need to start a project. Your girl, Charlotte, and her uncle could easily start several productions without blinking because their firm has no damn board of stiff shareholders to get the idea past first." As Dem said 'your girl' he took a pointed glance at me. "So how did you meet Charlotte anyway, it'd help if I knew what I had to work with."

Jasper ran into the room, hearing the mention of Charlotte's name several times. "She's our friend." He took one look at Dem and ran back out again.

"She's our friend." I echoed his words. I didn't think Dem needed to know how we were anymore than that, at least not now.

"Friend. I can work with that but if there's more then I'd like to know, you know, just so I can deflect stuff. Last thing I'd want to do is upset the woman by saying something stupid and ruining us both."

Esme called everyone into the room and we had our dinner. Through it all Demetri's phone went off a few times and he ignored it. Renee asked if he should be answering it he said they could wait for him because he had been running all day and this was his first proper meal. I got the feeling that he was just doing it to make him, us, appear unavailable.


End file.
